


LMNT Volume 1

by kierandell1409



Category: RWBY
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-18
Updated: 2017-05-06
Packaged: 2018-08-15 18:14:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 26,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8067706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kierandell1409/pseuds/kierandell1409
Summary: Lyndal, Moria, Nootau, and Tehuti have arrived at Beacon for their first year of Hunter/Huntress training. Happening concurrently with RWBY Volume 1.





	1. Arriving at Beacon

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys. Time for a new series. It’s been a while since I did the trailers for these guys, so I’m glad to be back. Anyway, this is about my OC RWBY team that I created as a tribute to Monty Oum. Well, it’ll mostly focus on them. I’m designing two other teams to appear with them (in fact, three of the members of one of the teams appear in this chapter). Now, this series takes place at about the same time as the events of RWBY (to the point where actual events WILL happen within this series). However, this will mostly focus on the school side, rather than the fighting side (though I plan to have a few fight scenes). This one will go as far as the end of Volume 1. I’m already planning Volumes 2 and 3, haven’t decided whether to do anything beyond that (we’ll see when Volumes 4+ come out). Well anyway, let’s see how this goes. Enjoy

‘There it is,’ thought Lyndal, looking out the window of the airship. ‘Beacon Academy’. Lyndal had been dreading the last few weeks leading up to her arrival at Beacon, especially after the incident a week earlier at the beach. Murdoch had been persistent in asking if she was okay, and had even asked if she was behind the huge storm that had chased off the large A’Tuin. But she couldn’t tell him the truth, not about that…  
“Well, well, Lyndal Kaleen,” came a cocky voice Lyndal knew only too well. “I’m legitimately surprised they dropped the bar so low that they’d accept you.”  
Lyndal sighed in exasperation. “What do you want Cardin?” she moaned.  
“Whoa, hey, is that any way to treat your buddy?” asked Cardin, voice dripping in sarcasm. “Come on, we both know why you’re actually here.”  
“And do you have a problem with that?” demanded Lyndal, cheeks flushing. “This is what I want to do, and I intend to do it.”  
“Hey, whoa, that’s your business, not mine,” said Cardin, mockingly backing off. “Just know that I’ll be around to tell you that some dreams don’t come true.”  
“Maybe not, but I’m still going to try to keep moving forward,” snapped Lyndal, but Cardin was already leaving. Cardin was among the most infuriating people she’d ever met, but he did have a point. Beacon was a place was talented Hunters and Huntresses to be. Why was she even here? What was Ozpin thinking, letting her come to his school?

“Look Moria, we’re nearly there,” said the red-haired girl beside her.  
Moria gave a quick sigh. “I know Pyrrha, you’ve mentioned it. Six times, in fact,” said Moria with a little laugh.  
“Oh, sorry,” said Pyrrha. “It’s just I’m so excited that we’ll get to be studying together here too.”  
“Why? So you can beat me at everything here too?” asked Moria. “If I’d known I’d have to compete against you here, I’d have gone to Haven instead.”  
“Oh, sorry again,” said Pyrrha.  
“No, don’t be,” said Moria, who was used to Pyrrha being way more apologetic than she needed to be. “It just means I’ll have to try even harder to beat you.”  
“But what if we’re on the same team?” asked Pyrrha. “We won’t have to compete.”  
“Oh, come on Pyrrha,” said Moria. “They’d never let us be on the same team. We’d be unstoppable. They’d have to put us on a team with someone really weak to balance things out.” Right at that moment, a blond haired boy ran past them, a hand over his mouth like he was going to be throw up. “Someone like that, for example.”  
“You don’t know that he’s a bad fighter,” said Pyrrha. “Motion sickness is a much more common problem than people let on.”  
“You just think he’s cute, don’t you?” teased Moria.  
“Hey, I never said that,” snapped Pyrrha, shoving a giggling Moria.

As the airship landed, Nootau grabbed his few possessions, and headed to the exit. ‘Man, I need a haircut’, he thought to himself. ‘I’m starting to look like a girl.’ As Nootau left, he saw a guy with orange-ish hair pulling on some faunus girl’s rabbit ear. ‘Oh great, I’ve been here five minutes and I’ve already found a jerk’. Nootau grabbed his sword and ran straight at the two. “HEY! What do you think you’re doing?” Nootau demanded, sword poised and ready to go.  
“Hey, come on, it’s just fun and games,” said the guy, giving the girl’s ear another tug.  
“Not if only one of you is having fun,” said Nootau. “Now let her go.”  
“Or else what?” demanded the guy.  
“Or else this,” said Nootau, switching on the flames of his sword.  
The guy jumped back in surprise, then gave a quick laugh. “Whatever man, you’re not worth it,” he said, walking away.  
“Th-thank you,” said the faunus girl. “I-I’m Velvet, by the way.”  
“Nootau,” said Nootau, shaking her hand. “Hey, if he ever tries something like that again…”  
“Don’t worry, I get this sort of thing all the time,” said Velvet.  
“Then why don’t you fight back?” asked Nootau.  
“Because they’re not worth the trouble,” said Velvet. “Besides, I usually have my team to back me up.”  
“Oh, you’re already on a team?” asked Nootau. “So, where are…?”  
“VELVET!” a girl wearing sunglasses called out. “This guy isn’t bothering you, is he?”  
“Oh, nonono Coco,” said Velvet. “In fact, he chased off a guy that was bothering me.”  
Coco looked at him a moment, then smiled. “Thank you,” said Coco. “You’re the sort of person the world needs.”  
“Just trying to redeem myself,” said Nootau. “Well, I better go. I said I’d meet some friends of mine here, and since we’re just starting…well, you know.”  
“Of course,” said Coco. “Well, if you ever need anything, Team CFVY will gladly help you out.” Coco guided Velvet away, towards a really tall guy and a dark skinned guy with orange hair.  
‘I wonder where Yang is…’ thought Nootau, looking around before eventually spotting her. ‘Ah, there she is. Wait…is that her kid sister?’ There, standing next to the blonde bruiser, was the tiny form of her sister. A talented Huntress-to-be, for sure, but she still had a few years left, didn’t she? He’d have to ask Yang about it.  
“Hey, Nootau,” called someone, and Nootau saw a few more friends from Patch.  
“Randolph, Balaraj, what’s up guys?” said Nootau, high fiving them. “Monty, my man.”  
“For the last time, my name is Montgomery,” said the disgruntled rich boy. “What kind of peasant calls himself Monty?”  
“Easy there buddy,” said Nootau. “Hey, Yang’s over there with her sister. Wanna see why she’s here?”  
“Good question,” said Balaraj. “Come on.” The group was running up to greet the two of them when Yang noticed them.  
"Ruby, come on, why don't you go try and make some friends of your own?" asked Yang, pulling Ruby’s hood over her head.  
Ruby took her hood back off indignantly. "But... why would I need friends if I have you?" asked Ruby.  
"Well..." started Yang as the gang arrived. “Actually, my friends are here. Gotta go catch up. 'Kay, see ya, bye!" The group immediately started running down the path towards the main entrance to Beacon, leaving Ruby dazed and confused.  
“Should we really be leaving your sister behind back there?” asked Randolph.  
“She’ll be fine,” said Yang. “Think of it as an opportunity to make new friends.”  
“Yeah, about that,” began Nootau. “Why is she here?”  
“Well, Ozpin let her come to Beacon early because she stopped that Torchwick robbery the other day,” said Yang dismissively, like this was an everyday occurrence.  
“Really? That was her?” said Montgomery.  
“Well, she had some help from a real Huntress,” said Yang. “Professor Goodwitch, I think her name was. The one from the hologram on the ship.”  
“She’s scary looking,” said Balaraj.  
“Oh, I’m sure she’s not that bad,” said Yang as the group entered the building.

Tehuti had no idea where he was going, so he just made his way towards the main building, in hopes that was the right way. As he was walking, he heard the sound of an explosion in the distance, and a girl yelling. ‘Trouble?’ thought Tehuti, grabbing his club and running towards the commotion. As he got close, he accidentally ran into a girl reading a book. “Oh, sorry,” said Tehuti.  
“No, it’s my fault. I should have been looking where I was going,” said the black-haired girl, picking up her book and casually continuing on her way.  
“Hey, you don’t happen to know what that explosion was, do you?” asked Tehuti.  
“Oh, just the Schnee heiress losing her head over nothing,” said the girl, glancing over her shoulder.  
“Schnee? As in the Dust company?” asked Tehuti. “Shouldn’t she be at Atlas Academy?”  
“Yeah, I think we’d all prefer that,” said the girl. “Well, nice meeting you…err…”  
“Tehuti,” said Tehuti, giving her his hand. “And you are…?”  
“Blake,” she said. “Well, I think there’s an assembly we’re meant to be at. Shall we?”  
“Okay,” said Tehuti, following Blake towards the main building.


	2. New Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The members of team LMNT meet each other for the first time.
> 
> ...yeah, that's pretty much it.

‘What am I going to do?’ thought Lyndal. ‘There’s no way I’m gonna survive at Beacon. I can beat a few Grimm, but I’m no fighter. Well, at least I won’t have to lead a team…’ Lyndal’s thoughts were interrupted as she bumped into a couple of people heading towards the main building. “Oh, sorry,” said Lyndal, then gasped in shock as she saw how tall the guy in front of her was. At least a foot taller than her, and almost twice as heavy, Lyndal found herself praying he wasn’t going to rip her in half.  
“Calm down,” said the girl next to him. “I doubt Tehuti’s going to hurt you for bumping into him. At least, he didn’t hurt me.”  
“Exactly,” said Tehuti. “We’re all new here. It wouldn’t make sense to start a fight on the first day, not knowing how powerful anyone is.”  
“Uhh…yeah, I guess,” said Lyndal, still unsure how to talk to this giant of a man. “I…I’m Lyndal.”  
“Tehuti,” said the giant, giving her his hand. It was almost like a baby gripping an adult’s finger. “And this is Blake.”  
“Oh, hi,” said Lyndal, almost forgetting the shadowy girl was there with them. “So, where are you heading?”  
“There’s going to be an assembly before we get settled today,” said Tehuti. “Coming?”  
“Sure,” said Lyndal, figuring she might as well make some friends before she gets kicked out of school.

“There’s so many people here,” said Pyrrha.  
“What did you expect? This is one of, if not the best Huntsman academy in Remnant,” said Moria.  
“Yeah, I know, but…wow,” said Pyrrha, still marvelling at all the people. “Think there’s anyone here better than me?”  
“Maybe some of the teachers,” said Moria. “Hey look, it’s that motion sick guy from the airship.”  
“Who’s that with him?” asked Pyrrha. “She looks way too young to be here. I’d be surprised if she’s even seen a Grimm.”  
“You’re not jealous, are you?” teased Moria. “Pyrrha Nikos, the greatest Huntress-to-be, jealous of a fifteen year old girl.”  
“Stop it,” said Pyrrha, hitting her. “Look, she’s leaving. I’m gonna talk to him.” Pyrrha looked as if she was going to go, but stayed put.  
“Well?” asked Moria.  
“I’m just preparing myself,” said Pyrrha. “Hey, is that Weiss Schnee, heir to the Schnee Dust Company? I better introduce myself, seeing as we’re gonna be in the same class.” Pyrrha dashed off towards the white haired heiress, ignoring the young man she was talking about before.  
“Should have seen that coming. Any excuse not to talk to a boy,” muttered Moria. “Maybe I should talk to that guy for Pyrrha. She’ll never do it for herself.” Moria began to approach where the guy was standing, hoping the young girl or the big blonde girl near her weren’t his girlfriend. As she was heading there, she accidentally bumped into a red haired guy nearby. “Oh, sorry,” Moria apologised.  
“Don’t worry about it shortstuff,” said the boy.  
“Hey, I may be short, but…” started Moria, as the boy started ruffling her hair.  
“Run along, kiddo,” said the boy, as one of his friends grabbed him.  
“Nootau, you don’t think that’s a bit rude?” asked another boy as he dragged Nootau away.  
“Hey, I already chased one bully away from a faunus girl today. I want to have a bit of fun,” said Nootau.  
“You should apologise,” said the other boy.  
“Alright, alright,” said Nootau, but when he looked back, she’d already left.  
Moria had stormed away through the crowd, hoping to find Pyrrha. She needed to vent to someone, and she was the only person she knew here. Moria was so caught up in her search that she didn’t notice where she was going until she crashed into the back of a blonde girl. ‘Damn, I keep doing this today,’ she thought. “Sorry,” she said to the girl.  
“Oh, it’s okay,” said the girl, who seemed more shaken by the bump than she should be. “I’m Lyndal. These are my new friends Blake and Tehuti.”  
“Moria,” said Moria, giving Lyndal her hand and vaguely noticing the other people she was indicating. “Hey, you haven’t seen…” Before she could finish, there was a sound from the stage, where the headmaster was about to make a speech.  
“It’s Ozpin,” said Lyndal. “I know him. We’ve had him around for dinner at the manor a couple of times.”  
“Wow,” said Moria, only half listening.  
“My family’s connection is the main reason I’m here,” said Lyndal.  
This comment caught Moria’s attention, though she stayed silent. ‘Was this girl only at Beacon because she had money?’ Moria thought, when Ozpin started talking.  
“I'll... keep this brief,” said Ozpin. “You have travelled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction.” ‘What?’ thought Moria. ‘What’s he talking about? Almost everyone here is here because they have the necessary skills, aren’t they?’ “You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step.” Ozpin finished his speech, and walked away from the microphone, allowing a middle age blonde woman to step up to it.  
“You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins,” said Professor Goodwitch. “Be ready. You are dismissed.”  
As the students began to file out, Lyndal caught Moria’s arm. “Hey…umm…would you, I don’t know, like to hang out? You know, just for the day? I just want someone to hang out with.”  
“Err…sure,” said Moria. “But what about your other friends?”  
“Oh, I only just met them,” said Lyndal. “I’m not sure if they’re long-time friends or whatever, but I’d rather not intrude. So, how about it?”  
“I don’t see why not,” said Moria. “I don’t know where my friend Pyrrha’s gone. Maybe we’ll run into her.”

“Where is that girl?” muttered Nootau, fighting against the surging crowd in hopes of finding the short girl from before. “It’s hopeless. I’ll never find such a tiny girl in a massive crowd like this.”  
“Nootau,” scolded Montgomery. “When you said you wanted to reform, I agreed to help you. And one thing you need to learn is manners.”  
“I know, but…it’s hard,” said Nootau. “I’ve had I difficult time trying to get used to the whole ‘be a nice person thing’…”  
“Yeah, I know, I was there,” said Montgomery. “But you’ve definitely improved. Look, let’s just ask someone if they’ve seen her.”  
“Like who?” snapped Nootau, stopping the first person to come past. “Hey, have you seen a short girl with silver hair around here?”  
“You mean Moria?” asked the tall, dark-skinned guy Nootau had stopped. “Yeah, she went off with Lyndal. Why? Do you know her?”  
“Er…kind of…” started Nootau.  
“He made fun of her, and I’m making him apologise,” said Montgomery.  
The tall guy narrowed his eyes at Nootau. “Why would you do that?” he asked. “We’re almost adults now. You should really…”  
“Yeah, yeah, I know, Monty already chastised me about that,” said Nootau.  
Montgomery slapped Nootau over the back of the head. “My full name, if you please,” he said.  
“Whatever, _Montgomery_ ,” said Nootau. “I’m gonna see if I can find her.” Without waiting for a response, Nootau raced off, searching for the short silver haired girl.  
After almost fifteen minutes of looking, Nootau was ready to give up, when he saw her through the window of the cafeteria with a blonde girl. They seemed to be having a good time, smiling and laughing like old friends. ‘Maybe I shouldn’t interrupt’, he thought. ‘I mean, she’s having fun with her friend. Why should I ruin that?’  
As soon as the thought appeared, Nootau dismissed it. Monty would check to see if he’d apologised, so he might as well do it. Nootau steeled his nerves, and entered the cafeteria. Moria was facing the door, so when she saw him enter her face gained a slight look of disgust. Her friend must have noticed, because she turned to look at him too.  
“Is this the guy you were telling me about?” asked the blonde girl.  
“Yeah, that’s him,” said Moria. “But Lyndal…”  
“Don’t worry, I’ve got this,” said Lyndal. “What makes you think you can be rude to someone you just met?”  
“Look, I’m not here for a fight,” said Nootau. “I want to apologise…”  
“Like we’d believe you,” said Lyndal. “You probably…”  
“Now listen here you stuck up bi…” started Nootau, when he felt himself being lifted up. Nootau looked over to see Moria focusing hard just beneath him. “Wha…”  
“I can make air solid,” said Moria, lifting him up further, until he’d nearly reached the ceiling, at which point she dropped him. Nootau fell to the floor, crashing through a table. “By the way, apology accepted. I know you didn’t actually apologise, but that was fun. Lyndal, shall we go?” Nootau got up, dazed and confused, and watched the two girls leave.  
“Hey, I didn’t know we were trashing the caf,” said a short red-haired girl nearby.  
“Nora, whatever you’re thinking of doing, don’t,” said the black haired guy next to her, but it was too late. Nootau had only just gotten up when he was hit by a flying chair.

Tehuti was looking for Moria and Lyndal, in hopes of warning them about the red-haired idiot he’d just met. He was probably a nice enough guy, but that Montgomery just needed a bit more time to make sure of that. Where could they be?  
“Damn students,” said someone running past Tehuti. It took him a second to realise it was Professor Goodwitch. “One day in and already there’s a fight in the cafeteria.”  
‘I don’t know how, I don’t know in what way, but I’m pretty sure Moria’s involved in some way,’ thought Tehuti, running after her. He could hear the sounds of furniture being thrown around and walls and windows being smashed before he reached the cafeteria. As he reached the courtyard just outside, he found Moria and Lyndal just leaving the scene. “What did you do?” he asked immediately.  
“Us? Nothing,” said Lyndal. “That Nootau guy came up and tried to talk to us.”  
“And?” asked Tehuti.  
“And I broke a table with him,” said Moria. “Then some other girl decided to start a brawl.”  
“In her defence, it looked like she was going to win before we left,” said Lyndal.  
From inside the cafeteria, the group could hear someone singing the words ‘I’m queen of the castle’ over and over again.  
“Well, as long as you too are okay,” said Tehuti. “Come on, let’s go.”


	3. Partners

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the first day at Beacon, and the students need to pick a partner. And by pick, I mean they get forced to pair up with someone they may or may not know or like.

“So, how do you think this is gonna work?” asked Lyndal, entering the locker room with Moria. “Do you think they’ll let us pick our partners?”  
“I doubt it,” said Moria, opening her locker and grabbing her weapons. “I believe they’ll match us on skill. Balance everything out, you know?”  
“I guess,” said Lyndal, grabbing her own weapon. “But we still have to make teams of four, so…”  
“You really want to be on a team with me, don’t you?” asked Moria.  
“Well, yeah,” said Lyndal. “You or Tehuti. Actually, just anyone, as long as it’s not Nootau, or…”  
“Oh, you’re still here?” said a sly voice behind her. Lyndal turned to see Cardin with his mace on one shoulder. “Honestly thought you’d have left by now.”  
“And why’s that?” demanded Moria, coming to her friend’s defence.  
“Well, she got the lowest scores at Flare Academy, for one thing,” said Cardin. “Plus, she’s not that tough.” Without warning, Cardin gave Lyndal a hard shove, and she fell to the floor.  
Moria glared at Cardin. “Back off her,” said Moria. “Rank at Combat School is irrelevant. Only your overall skill, and clearly Lyndal has that skill.”  
“Whoa, easy sweetheart,” said Cardin mockingly. “Tell you what; I’ll let you be on my team. I’m sure a tiny thing like you would love…”  
In the blink of an eye, Moria had one of her bladed fans against Cardin’s neck. “Back. Off. Now,” she said, leaving no room for argument.  
Cardin backed up a few steps, then shrugged. “Isn’t that nice, Lyndal?” said Cardin mockingly. “You made a friend. Guess miracles do happen.” Cardin walked away with a swagger in his step, as though he won the argument.  
“That guy needs to be taught a lesson,” said Moria, helping Lyndal up.  
“I’ll say,” came a voice behind them. Lyndal and Moria turned around to see a pink haired girl with a bow on her back. “Yesterday I saw him hassling a faunus girl, until some other guy threatened him with his fire-sword.”  
“I’m sorry, who are you?” asked Lyndal, confused why this girl was talking to them.  
“Oh, sorry, my name is Grace,” said the girl. “By the way, I love the way you guys stick up for each other. Well, gotta go. Don’t wanna be late for initiation.” Without another word, Grace skipped past the two.  
“She was…interesting,” said Lyndal.  
“Yeah…” said Moria. “But she’s right. We better be going.” Moria and Lyndal finished grabbing their things, and left to go to the Cliffside.

“How do you think this will work?” asked Randolph, leading the group to the clearing at the edge of the cliff. Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch were already waiting, as were some students.  
“Probably tests of some kind that take place within the forest,” said Balaraj. “The forest is probably full of Grimm. Perhaps they’ll assess how well we handle different kinds.”  
“A strong possibility,” said Montgomery. “They’d want to keep things approximately even, so ranking us would be a good plan to keep the balance.”  
“Well then, why are we at the top of the cliff instead of the bottom?” asked Nootau.  
“That’s…a good question,” said Montgomery. “They’ll have their reasons. I guess we’ll have to find out in due course.”

“For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest,” said Ozpin after everyone arrived.  
“Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumours about the assignment of ‘teams.’ Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion,” said Goodwitch. “Each of you will be given teammates. Today.” Some people gasped in shock, others looked excited.  
“These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well,” continued Ozpin. ‘That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years.”  
“So, we can’t just pick?” whispered Nootau to Montgomery.  
“Apparently not,” replied Montgomery.  
“After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest,” explained Ozpin. “You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you will die.” Someone laughed nervously, like they hadn’t fought many Grimm before. “You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?”  
“Yeah, um, sir?” a tall blond guy started to say.  
“Good! Now, take your positions,” said Ozpin. Nootau’s platform was on the far left side, and all of a sudden he was flying. Nootau had suspected something like this might happen, so he brought out Burning Desire and switched it to its flamethrower setting. About a year back, Montgomery had helped Nootau install a function on his weapon that would fire a powerful blast of air so if he ever found himself falling, he could cushion his fall without setting fire to everything. Nootau fired a few blasts of this, then when he got to the treetops switched his weapon back to a sword, digging the blade into a tree to slow his descent.

Back in the air, the other students were trying to find a safe way down. Moria kept solidifying the air, making a stairway to the ground. Tehuti made himself fall into the trees quickly, grabbing a handful of leaves on the way which he formed into a makeshift parachute. Lyndal unhooked the boomerang from Silver Mist and pressed a button on the back, which unfolded into a hang glider.  
Lyndal found a gap in the trees, and dropped through it, landing on the ground carefully. She folded up her hang glider and quickly got her bearings. “It’s morning, and the sun’s over there,” she said to herself. “So this must be north. Might as well head to the temple and maybe find a partner on the way.” Without another word, Lyndal began making her way north.

Moria was one of the last on the ground, taking it slowly but safely to avoid injury. Almost immediately she noticed them. “Grimm,” she said, pulling out her bladed fans. Eight legged creatures came down from the trees and crawled along the ground. ‘Shelobs,’ she thought to herself. On their own they were easy, but these Grimm were notorious for overwhelming their victims on numbers, rarely appearing in groups of less than ten. As it was, there had to be at least twenty surrounding the small huntress. “Bring it on,” she declared, running at the nearest ones.

“I really need to find Nootau,” said Montgomery. “He’ll need me as a partner more than anyone else. Now, where could he be…” As he said this, Montgomery an explosion off in the distance. Looking for the source, Montgomery soon saw smoke billowing out of the trees, and the sounds of distressed Grimm. “There’s a reasonable chance that could be anyone in this school,” said Montgomery. “But it does suit Nootau well.”  
“What does?” asked someone behind him.  
“WHOA!” yelled Montgomery, jumping in surprise to find a pink haired girl behind him. “Uhh, hello?”  
“Hi, I’m Grace,” said the girl. “Guess we’re partners now.”  
“I guess so,” said Montgomery, a little disappointed he hadn’t found Nootau first. “Hey, you haven’t seen a red-haired guy with a bad attitude around here by any chance?” Maybe he could still get on Nootau’s team somehow…  
“Not today, sorry,” said Grace cheerfully. “So, we should go find a relic, right? Come on, they’re this way.” Without waiting, Grace ran off through the trees. Montgomery sighed and followed.

“Hello? Anyone?” called Randolph. “Guess I’ll have to wait for someone at the temple…”  
“Don’t count on that buddy,” came a voice from above him. Randolph looked up into a tree to find Balaraj watching him. “So, guess we’re together then.”  
“Please, don’t phrase it like that,” said Randolph as Balaraj jumped down.  
“Hey, I was just…” started Balaraj, as a roar sounded through the trees. Out from the bushes crashed an Ursa. “You wanna take this thing down?”  
“I thought you’d never ask,” said Randolph, drawing Blackout in its club form.

“It’s too quiet,” said Lyndal to herself. “It’s almost like…” At that very second, a pack of Beowolves charged into the clearing. “Yeah, this.” Lyndal launched her boomerang at the nearest Beowolf, but not before noticing that the Grimm were ignoring her. “Wait…”  
The boomerang cut down the Grimm, who let out a wail of pain before dying. The other Grimm, hearing their friend’s death wail, turned on Lyndal. “Uh oh…” Lyndal caught the returning boomerang, and charged at the largest of the monsters. Maybe if she killed the biggest one, the others would hesitate…  
“Heads up,” said someone, just as the large Grimm’s head fell from its shoulders. “Or rather, down.” The figure stood up, and Lyndal couldn’t believe her eyes…  
“Oh no,” she gasped. “Not you. Anyone but you. Please tell me you have a partner.”  
“Sorry sweetheart,” said Nootau. “We’re in this together now, whether you like it or not.” The other Grimm began to growl at the sudden interruption. “And if you’d like to discuss this further, I suggest we kill these things first.” Nootau flicked the fire switch on his sword, and began slicing Grimm left and right.  
Lyndal sighed, but started helping. Moping wasn’t going to help. At least, not yet. Though something was nagging at her, like she was forgetting something…

“Where do these things keep coming from?” demanded Moria, cutting down another three Shelobs in a single swipe. She was sure she’d killed at least twenty of these things, but their numbers didn’t seem to be any less.  
“Need a hand?” asked someone. Before Moria could reply, Tehuti had jumped into the clearing, crushing a couple of Shelobs under his feet. The large Huntsman then kicked a Grimm with such force that its body cut another one in half, killing them both.  
“A helping hand wouldn’t hurt,” said Moria, renewed energy now that she had an ally. Between the two of them, they managed to slay the remaining Grimm in just under two minutes. “Well, that was a workout,” she said, feigning exhaustion. “So, we’re partners?”  
“That’s what Ozpin said,” replied Tehuti. “Shall we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another part down. So, who’s psyched for Volume 4? After all the Chibi stuff, I’m not sure I’m ready to go back to dark RWBY, but at the same time I wanna see what happens. Ooh, this is gonna be awesome. Well, anyway, I’m thinking I should put some bios and information about my OCs on my profile, just so people can refer to something when reading about them. Expect that info soon. Until next time guys…


	4. Teams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Today marks the forming of two new teams: LMNT and GMBR. Well, RWBY, JNPR, CRDL, and like five other teams also come to be as well, but this fic doesn't focus on them. Much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. So…kinda screwed something up. When coming up with names for Team GMBR (pronounced Gambler, in case you were wondering), I found the name for Balaraj, but I thought it said Balarai. So…I’m gonna go back and change that, so you don’t get confused later. My bad. Anyway, enjoy the chapter guys.

“Come on Montgomery, the temple is just over here,” said Grace, calling from through a bunch of trees. Montgomery followed her voice, and emerged at the edge of a cliff. Below them was what looked like an old broken down rotunda. On pillars against the walls stood chess pieces, though some were missing.  
“Looks like we aren’t the first ones here,” said Montgomery, jumping down the cliff. Across a clearing leading to more ruins, Montgomery saw a bunch of giant feathers. “And someone found a Nevermore.”  
“Can we have a horsey? Please?” asked Grace, seeming to ignore what he had just said. Before Montgomery could respond, Grace had picked up one of the black knight pieces.  
“I guess we’ll be the black knight team,” said Montgomery. Grace looked at him, confused. “There’s two of each piece, right? It stands to reason that we’ll be paired with whoever grabs the other black knight piece.”  
“Ohh…” said Grace. “Okay. Well, let’s go.”  
“You don’t want to stay and see who our new teammates might be?” asked Montgomery.  
“Why? We’ll know soon enough,” said Grace, climbing up the cliff, before stopping. “Do you hear that?”  
“Sounds like two people bickering,” said Montgomery. “Wait…is that…”

“Of all the people I could have been paired with, why did it have to be you?” spat Lyndal. “There were enough freshmen to make ten teams. How is it that I ended up with you?”  
“Well, there was a one in thirty-nine chance of it. It’s not like it was impossible,” said Nootau.  
“Look, just don’t talk. Like, ever,” said Lyndal, picking up her pace to get as much distance between her and Nootau.  
“Hey, wait up,” called Nootau, running to catch up. Lyndal only started going faster, and faster, not looking where she was going, until she slipped and began to fall down a steep slope. Lyndal gasped in shock as she fell, but as suddenly as she started, she stopped. The feeling was odd, it was like she was flying. She looked around to see what had happened.  
“Silly girl, you should look where you’re going,” said what looked like an angel with large white wings. And pink hair…  
“Grace?” asked Lyndal. “I didn’t realise you were a faunus.”  
Grace carefully lowered her to the ground. “Not many do,” she said, wrapping her wings around her in such a way that they looked like an extension of her white dress. “I’m not hiding it, I just don’t advertise it.”  
“I see you two know each other,” said Montgomery.  
“Not really,” said Lyndal. “I just met her in the locker room earlier.” Suddenly, Lyndal noticed the temple. “Hey, is this the place we were meant to go?” Lyndal ran up to one of the pedestals and grabbed a white bishop piece.  
“Where’s your partner?” asked Montgomery.  
“Right here,” said Nootau, sliding down the slope by himself. “Hey Monty, what’s up?”  
Montgomery looked between the two, shaking his head. “Of all the people you could have been paired with, it had to be someone who hated you.”  
“What can I say, I’m a lucky guy,” said Nootau, drawing Lyndal closer with one arm.  
“Don’t touch me,” snapped Lyndal, slapping his arm away.  
“Hey, I know you,” said Grace, looking up at Nootau. “You’re the guy who chased away that jerk bullying the faunus girl yesterday.”  
“What?” asked Lyndal. “But you said that guy had a…fire…sword…what are you playing at?”  
“What are you talking about?” asked Nootau, stepping back from the enraged blonde.  
“Are you trying to get in that poor girl’s pants or something?” demanded Lyndal.  
“Hey, I’m trying to be a good person,” said Nootau defensively. “Yeah, I’m still rude sometimes, but…”  
“Nootau, settle,” cautioned Montgomery. “You’ll never make it up to...sorry, I don’t believe we were introduced.”  
“Lyndal,” said Lyndal, arms crossed. “And you don’t honestly believe he can be sincere, do you?”  
“I believe the best in him, because someone has to,” said Montgomery. “Wouldn’t you want that too?”  
Lyndal had looked like she was about to reply, but Montgomery’s words seemed to strike a chord with her. “I…guess,” she said. “Come on, I think we should start heading back.”

“Hey, it’s through here,” called Tehuti, pushing through some trees. “It’s gotta be this place.”  
“I don’t know, do you really think the temple’s inside a cave?” asked Moria. “I mean, look at these cave paintings. I think there are Death Stalkers in here.”  
Tehuti looked carefully at the cave paintings. “Yeah, guess you’re right,” he said. “But it’s the fastest way through. Do you think we should…”  
“No,” said Moria, almost too fast. “Err, we wouldn’t be able to fight any Grimm very effectively if we have to carry a torch at the same time, and in the…dark too. Plus, in such close quarters, we might hit each other…”  
“I get the point,” said Tehuti. “We go around.”  
“I’ve got a different idea,” said Moria, holding her hand in front of her. After a second, she stepped up, and seemed to be floating. “Climb aboard.”  
“Is…is it safe?” asked Tehuti sceptically.  
“Don’t worry, I’ve done this plenty of times,” said Moria, easily pulling Tehuti onto the invisible platform, despite him being over a foot and a half taller and over twice as heavy as her.  
“O…kay,” said Tehuti, unsure what to think and kind of worried at what was to come. He’d largely blocked out the flight between Vacuo and Vale, but he’d also been grateful that he was inside an airship with strict maintenance rules and regulations. Whereas now…  
“Hang on tight,” said Moria, and almost the instant that Tehuti had managed to make handholds for himself, the two of them took off at a very unsettling speed, flying above the rocky hill the cave was set in. “Hey, I can see something up ahead. It could be the temple.”  
“How…far away…is it?” moaned Tehuti, eyes closed tightly.  
“Hmm…I’d say above half a mile,” said Moria.  
“Can we please walk?” begged Tehuti.  
“You’re…you’re not scared of flying are you?” asked Moria.  
“In the same way you’re scared of the dark,” said Tehuti. “Yeah, don’t think I didn’t catch what you really meant when you didn’t want to go through the cave.”  
Moria was thoughtful for a moment. “Touché,” she eventually said. “Alright, we’ll walk.” Moria lowered their invisible platform to the ground, and almost immediately Tehuti threw himself to the ground and kissed the earth.  
“Land, sweet land,” he said, before rising to his feet and noticing Moria staring at him. “Umm…okay, if you tell anyone about that, I’ll tell them about you being scared of the dark. Deal?”  
“Deal,” said Moria. “Now come on. We don’t want to be the last ones back, do we?” Moria ran off into the forest in the direction of the temple she’d seen, Tehuti following right behind her.

“Admit it man, we’re lost,” said Randolph.  
“We’re not lost,” replied Balaraj. “We just don’t know where we are.”  
“Yeah, lost,” said Randolph. “So why don’t we just…” Before he could finish his sentence, something zoomed overhead. Before it vanished, Randolph managed to get a glimpse of a small girl and a large guy flying above them. “Hey, maybe they know where they’re going.”  
“I know where we’re going,” said Balaraj. “It’s this way.” Balaraj began to march in almost the opposite direction.  
“Just come on, you idiot,” said Randolph, almost dragging his friend in the direction of the flying pair. “It looked like they were about to land.” The two of them ran after the flying pair of them, but they were moving too fast.  
“We’ll never catch them,” said Balaraj, stopping and resting against a tree. “Might as well give up and wait here.”  
“Come on, it’s probably not much further,” said Randolph, dragging his friend through the trees and bushes into the next clearing, where he saw the two they had just seen just leaving. “There they are.”  
“See, just as I told you,” said Balaraj, running across the clearing after the two of them.  
“Yeah, that’s totally what you did,” muttered Randolph, following him. After a quick chase, the two of them caught the other two students. “Hey, you don’t know where the temple is, do you?”  
“Yeah, I think I do,” said the girl. “I think it’s about another quarter mile. You guys need to get there too?”  
“Indeed we do,” said Balaraj. “My buddy here managed to get us lost.”  
“That was you,” said Randolph. “In fact, you almost sent us in the opposite direction to these guys.”  
“Oh, silly Randolph, always making up stories,” said Balaraj. “May we tag along with you?”  
“Sure. it’s right this way,” said the girl, leading the way.  
“Thank you Miss,” said Balaraj. “See Randolph, it doesn’t hurt to ask for directions every now and then.”  
“Hey, it was you that got us lost,” said Randolph defensively.  
“No, it was you,” replied Balaraj.  
“No, you,” snapped Randolph.  
“You,” retorted Balaraj.  
“You,” countered Randolph.  
“You,” argued Balaraj.  
“Why did we agree to help them?” asked Tehuti.  
“Don’t worry, they can’t keep doing it forever,” said Moria.

“You.”  
“You.”  
“You.”  
“You.”  
“For God’s sake guys, shut the hell up,” yelled Tehuti.  
“I totally won that,” said Randolph.  
“No you…” started Balaraj.  
“Guys,” said Moria calmly, even though she wanted to strangle both of them. “There’s the temple. And it looks like Lyndal’s there…with Nootau. The poor thing.”  
“Thank God,” said Tehuti. “Let’s grab our artefact and ditch these guys.”  
“What did we do?” asked Balaraj, confused.  
“Lyndal, are you okay?” asked Moria, running up to her. On her way she grabbed the white bishop piece on one of the pedestals.  
“Physically, I’m fine,” said Lyndal. “Psychologically, not so much. I’ve just had to spend an hour and a half with him.” Lyndal glared at Nootau as she said that last word.  
“Hey, come on, I’m trying,” said Nootau.  
“Well, if we’re done catching up,” said Randolph, picking up the black knight. “We might as well…” As he was speaking, the ground began to shake, then a giant head burst from the ground.

“It’s a King Taijitu,” said Moria. “Don’t worry, I’ve got this.” Moria pulled out her bladed fans and ran at the giant snake.  
“Hey, is there something…off, about this Grimm?” asked Tehuti, as Moria ducked under a strike from the Grimm.  
“Yeah, now that you mention it, it looks…kinda different,” said Montgomery as Moria easily sliced the black head off the King Taijitu. She had begun backing up to find the white head, when the recently decapitated neck hole rose up, and grew two new heads right before them.  
“That’s not a King Taijitu, it’s an EMPEROR Taijitu,” said Lyndal, drawing her weapon. “Taking its head off isn’t enough.”  
“Then what is, genius?” asked Nootau, pulling out his own weapon.  
“We need set fire inside the hole where its head was,” said Lyndal. “Can you…”  
“Already on it,” said Nootau, running towards the giant two-headed snake.  
Meanwhile, Moria was trying to dodge strikes from the monster. Unfortunately, one of its heads caught her by surprise, knocking her across the clearing. Moria, now about twenty feet from her enemy, decided this was the perfect time to bring out her bow. Grabbing one of her arrows, she aimed for the monster’s eyes, and fired. Her aim was off, but that’s where her Semblance came into play. Solidifying the air at just the right angle, the arrow redirected itself at nearest of the Emperor Taijitu’s head’s eyes, blinding it.  
The Grimm was furious, and that head immediately tried to strike Moria, when it suddenly thudded against the ground. Moria looked up to see Tehuti holding the thing back by himself. “Lyndal, Nootau, go now,” he called, struggling to keep the thing back from Moria.  
“Got it,” said Lyndal, lining up Silver Mist. “Well, here goes nothing.” Lyndal launched the boomerang of her weapon at the Grimm, and managed to take off one of its heads. “NOOTAU!”  
“I know, I know,” said Nootau, Burning Desire in its flamethrower form. “You burn. Swing all you want, but like a fever I’ll take you down.” A jet of flames burst from the weapon, leaving the head useless.  
“What are you going on about?” demanded Lyndal.  
“Huh? Oh nothing,” said Nootau.

“Guys, this thing’s getting really pissed,” said Tehuti. “I don’t think I can…” Before he could finish speaking, someone covered head to toe in metal grabbed the Grimm, helping hold it down. “Wait, who are…?”  
“Oh, that’s just Monty,” said Nootau casually. “His Semblance is to become a cyborg.”  
“I keep telling you Nootau, I just cover my body in metal for a huge strength and durability boost,” said Montgomery. “Unfortunately, I can’t move very far or fast like this, but I can hold this thing down.”  
“Keep it close to the ground,” said Balaraj. “Here comes some fun.” Balaraj puts his hands on the ground near the snake, and soon it began to sink into the ground. “You know, it really sucks when quicksand turns to solid rock. Especially when you’re the one sinking in it.” The Grimm seemed to understand what he said, and knocked him aside before he could resolidify the ground.  
“Balaraj,” cried Grace, not noticing the Grimm turn its attention to her.  
“Grace, watch out,” called Moria, but the snake had already made its move: ramming its head right into Grace. However, the snake was the one to scream in pain, with a new Grace-shaped hole in its head.  
“Oh, did I forget to mention?” asked Grace innocently. “My Semblance is Purity. If evil like you touches me, I hurt you. Badly.” The snake Grimm seemed to understand this too, and was backing away from the angelic looking faunus.  
“Heads up,” yelled Randolph, jumping over Grace’s head with his club out. Except now, there were blades around the top. Randolph flicked a switch on his weapon, and the blades began spinning around rapidly. He hit the snake’s neck, and its head came off.  
“Sorry Mr. Snake,” said Grace, pulling out a bow and loading an arrow that was glowing red. “But you did attack my friends, so…” She let the arrow fly, and the Emperor Taijitu was dead. At least, the black half was. The white head burst from the ground, and let out a screech at the eight Huntsman/Huntresses.  
“You guys ready?” asked Lyndal, aiming her weapon.  
“You bet,” said Grace, doing the same. Without another word, the group charged the monster, their victory assured.

“Nootau Atsila, Moria Chinook, Tehuti Gebson, and Lyndal Kaleen ,” said Professor Ozpin, at the huge ceremony later that day. The four of them stood before the Headmaster. “The four of you retrieved the white bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team LMNT. Led by... Lyndal Kaleen!”  
“What?” was all Lyndal could say. Moria and Tehuti patted her on the back in congratulations, but Nootau looked unimpressed by the news. The four of them left the stage as the next team walked up.  
“Montgomery Diamont, Grace Eros, Balaraj Kudaal, and Randolph Udar,” said Ozpin as the four of them stopped before him. “The four of you retrieved the black knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team GMBR. Led by... Grace Eros!” Grace looked ecstatic at the news, with Montgomery graciously shaking her hand. Balaraj and Randolph looked unsure what to think of the news as they came offstage to join Team LMNT.  
“Can you believe it? We get to be team leaders,” said Grace, hugging Lyndal before she could stop her.  
“Yeah, uh, great,” said Lyndal, looking very worried by the thought of leading a team, especially one with a skilled Huntress like Moria. What was Ozpin thinking? Or was this her dad’s doing? Lyndal decided not to think about it for now, and instead focused on the rest of the ceremony.


	5. Classes Start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The members of Team LMNT have their first week of classes at Beacon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this is the point where I’ll be turning this fic into more of a humorous high school drama with an occasional fight as opposed to an awesome action adventure “anime”. Sorry if you were expecting anything else, but…well, that’s what’s happening. Deal with it.

“God, your snoring is loud,” said Lyndal the next morning, hitting Nootau with a pillow. Nootau, who wasn’t awake yet, continued to snore.  
“He’s gonna miss our first class,” said Tehuti, already dressed. “I believe its Grimm Studies with Professor…Port? I think that was his name.”  
“Let him miss it,” said Lyndal, grabbing her clothes and going behind a Mistralian screen Moria had set up for privacy. “It’s not my business if he fails.”  
“But Lyndal, you’re our leader,” pointed out Moria. “If he fails, we all do.”  
Lyndal emerged from behind the screen, half-dressed, and pinched Nootau’s ear between her thumb and index finger. “Wake your lazy ass up,” said Lyndal, pulling him up.  
Nootau’s eyes shot open, first in shock, then in amusement. “Wow, is this how you greet all the guys you hate?” asked Nootau. “I’d love to see what you do for the ones you like.” Lyndal looked at him in confusion for a moment, then remembered she hadn’t put her shirt on yet. She quickly covered her chest, but Nootau was still grinning like an idiot. “You know, the white sports bra doesn’t really suit you. You should try something like a…” Whatever suggestion he was going to make was cut off by the inevitable slap he received.  
“Maybe you should finish getting dressed first,” said Tehuti, who had turned to face the wall as soon as he realised Lyndal wasn’t dressed.

“Wow, that story Professor Port was telling was kinda boring,” said Lyndal after class.  
“It wasn’t too bad,” said Nootau. “What was really awesome was Schnee beating that Boarbatusk. But my favourite part of today so far has definitely been…”  
“If you say my boobs one more time, I will personally throw you off Beacon Cliff,” snapped Lyndal, and Nootau shut up. “Tehuti, what’s next?”  
“Well, after lunch we have a Battle Tactics class with Professor Branton,” said Tehuti. “Could be a good class, especially if we want to compete in the Vytal Festival Tournament.”  
“HA! Lyndal, in the tournament? Puh-lease,” came the snarky voice each of them had come to hate.  
“Get lost Cardin,” said Lyndal, not even looking at him.  
“Aww, come on now Lyndy,” said Cardin, getting right into her personal space. “We both know that you aren’t as skilled as you think you are.”  
“You heard her, she said get lost,” said Nootau, standing up and getting in Cardin’s face. “Or do you want a piece of me?”  
“Oh, don’t think I haven’t done my research on you Atsila,” said Cardin, not backing down. “How many counts of assault do you have against your name?”  
“That’s not who I am anymore,” said Nootau. “I…”  
“Really?” interrupted Cardin. “Because in our first meeting, you pulled a sword on me for no good reason.”  
“You were bullying a faunus girl,” said Nootau.  
“Pfft, like that’s really an excuse to attack someone,” said Cardin dismissively. “Whatever losers, I’ve gotta get to class. Try not to flunk out before I get a chance to prove how bad you are Lyndal.” Cardin strolled off, high-fiving his teammates as he went.  
“First chance I get, that guy goes down,” said Nootau. “Just let me…”  
“I never asked you to stand up for me,” said Lyndal. “Why do you think I need you to help me?”  
“Hey, if Cardin’s picking on you, he’s all of our problem,” said Nootau.  
“Cardin picks on everyone,” pointed out Tehuti. “Even that Jaune guy, and he’s a team leader as well.”  
“Yeah, but he also seems like a bit of a wimp,” said Nootau. “Plus, he has Nora on his team. That girl looks like she can break some legs.”  
“Guys, we have class,” said Moria. “We can worry about Cardin later, he’s really not that big of a threat.”  
“You’re right, I bet any of us could take him down no problem,” said Nootau, leading the way out of the cafeteria.

“Hello class, welcome to Battle Tactics 101,” said a man in a suit that looked like a chess board. “I am Professor Branton, and by the end of this school year, you should be able to predict your opponent’s next move before they know what it is and be able to counter it, or you will fail.”  
“But…what if our Semblance isn’t mind-reading?” asked Jaune. Everyone started laughing at him.  
“The students are right to laugh at you Mr. Arc,” said Professor Branton. “If you know the sort of opponent you’ll be facing, knowing their next move will become second nature. For example: if you bleed in the water, what would a Jaws be likely to do?”  
“They swim right towards you?” said Jaune, unsure.  
“Correct, Mr. Arc,” said Professor Branton. “And there lies their biggest weakness. Once they smell blood, they go into a frenzy in order to attack whatever’s bleeding. As a result, they completely ignore their surroundings. This has led to many Huntsman and Huntresses exterminating large numbers of them by dropping pig or sheep blood in the water, and taking them out like fish in a barrel. This is maybe the most basic Grimm fighting tactic in the world, even though those Grimm are one of the more dangerous species. You will probably learn many Grimm killing tactics from Professor Port, but I can get you inside the mind of a much more dangerous foe: humans. We humans are far less predictable, and sometimes far more dangerous. Pay attention in this class, and you may just become unbeatable.”

“I still don’t see the point of Branton’s class,” said Nootau dismissively the next day. “If you put in enough brute force, nothing can stand up to you.”  
“Not necessarily,” said Tehuti. “A smart fighter can outsmart and defeat any much stronger opponent. Remember what happened in the Battle at Fort Castle?”  
“Whatever,” said Nootau. “What have we got today?”  
“First up is Geography with Professor Clark,” said Moria. “And this afternoon, Combat Training with Professor Goodwitch.”  
“That woman is scary,” said Lyndal. “Geography shouldn’t be too bad though.”  
“You would say that,” said Nootau, earning him a pillow to the face.

“Hello class, my name is Professor Lewis Clark, and welcome to your first Geography class here at Beacon,” said the man standing before them. “Before you ask, yes geography is important for a Huntsman to know. Why? Because many of you may end up in different parts of the world, and knowledge of the sort of environment you will be facing may be the difference between life and death.”  
“But what if we only want to work in Vale?” asked Nootau.  
“Young man, do you know what keeps the Grimm out of Vale?” asked Professor Clark.  
“I…I don’t know,” said Nootau.  
“Exactly,” said Professor Clark. “In the class, you will learn about different environments, and how they may affect any mission you go on. And the answer I was looking for is natural barriers, young man. Mountains and such, too dangerous for mindless Grimm to cross. But that doesn’t mean you don’t need to know about the other Kingdoms. You never know what the future holds.”

“My everything hurts,” moaned Lyndal the next day. “Goodwitch’s class is gonna be torture, isn’t it?”  
“I wouldn’t worry about it,” said Nootau. “Yang’s a hard hitter. I’m impressed you lasted that long against her.”  
“Wasn’t talking to you,” said Lyndal, turning away from him. “What’s on the agenda for today?”  
“We have Dust Studies with Professor Freyja this morning,” said Tehuti. “And History this afternoon with Professor Oobleck.”  
“Well, at least I don’t have to do anything physical this afternoon,” said Lyndal, pushing herself up. “Let’s go.”

“Hello class, welcome to Dust Studies,” said a middle-aged woman with her hair in a bun. “As I’m sure many of you are aware, Dust is a powerful force of nature, but we are far from discovering everything about it. It’s also incredibly dangerous, as I’m sure some of you are aware.”  
“That’s right Professor,” piped up Weiss, standing up and holding a stack of pamphlets. “As the Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, I feel it is my duty to…”  
“Thank you Miss Schnee,” interrupted the professor. “Throughout this class we will be learning all about Dust, and I expect your classmates will learn much from you, since I assume you will be the top student of this class.”  
“I intend to be,” said Weiss, sitting back down.  
“Now, how many of you have weapons that rely on Dust?” asked Professor Freyja. Weiss’s hand immediately shot up, followed more slowly by a handful of other students, Nootau among them.  
“Good, good,” said the professor. “Dust is a great addition to any weapon, though the upkeep can be expensive, especially lately with the Dust robberies.”  
“It’s a shame the White Fang feel the need to turn to such actions just for attention,” said Weiss angrily. Moria, who was sitting behind Blake, thought she saw the bow on the dark-haired girl’s head twitch a little as her fist clenched.  
“There are plenty of advantages to having Dust in your weapons,” continued the professor. “But it’s foolish to rely on it solely. In this class, you will not only learn the practical applications of Dust, but when it’s best to change your tactics to something else.”

“Hello, and welcome to Wilderness Survival,” said the professor in their first class the next day. “I’m Professor Peach, and will be teaching you how to live in the wild. Which brings me to our first field trip.”  
“You’re already thinking about that?” asked Ruby. “This is our first lesson.”  
“That is true,” said Professor Peach. “But classrooms are so boring. I like to spend as much time away from them as possible. Who doesn’t love the great outdoors? Anyway, because in this class we’ll be learning about surviving outside of civilisation, our first fieldtrip will to Forever Fall. The purpose will be to study edible foods you can find in the wilderness, specifically red sap.”  
“Erm, sap?” asked Jaune. “As in, like, tree blood?”  
“That’s exactly it,” said Professor Peach. “Red sap is a sickly sweet substance that naturally occurs in many forests like Forever Fall, and is often used by Huntsman and Huntresses as a means of sustenance when lost in the wilderness.”  
“It sounds delicious,” said Nora.  
“So, you’ll be escorting us I take it?” asked Weiss.  
“Well, err, no,” said Professor Peach. “I have a hunting mission that day, so Professor Goodwitch will be taking you, but I’m sure you’ll see me around plenty of other times…”

“Hello. My name is Professor Calypso Dynami, and this class is all about Semblances,” said the female professor of their afternoon class. “However, this class will be very different from most of your other classes. As some of you may know, or even already do, Huntsman and Huntresses have been known to keep their Semblance a secret. This is fine, but you do have to tell me your Semblance in order to pass this class.” Lyndal thought she heard Jaune gulp nervously at this comment. “That said, if you do wish to keep your Semblance a secret, you may tell me in private, and we will do any necessary assessments one-on-one. Any questions?”  
“Uh, yeah,” said Ruby. “Why do people keep their Semblances secret? I mean, mine’s speed, and my sister has…”  
“Miss Rose,” interrupted Professor Dynami. “Often the reason a Semblance is kept secret is because they use this is combat, but don’t want their opponent to know and find ways to counter them. For example, Miss Nikos is the winner of many fighting tournaments, but I have no idea what her Semblance is. I imagine you’d like to keep it private?”  
“Yes ma’am,” said Pyrrha with a nod.  
“As I thought. We’ll talk later,” said the professor. “Other reasons can be because they are ashamed of their Semblance, or they might have no idea what it is. These are also fine. I will spend our lessons either finding a practical use for it, or trying to find out what it is, since part of your grade will be finding ways to use your Semblance to enhance your skills, either on or off the battlefield. “  
Lyndal’s ears perked up at this. “I might like this class,” she whispered to Moria.  
“What was that?” asked Nootau, who was sitting next to her.  
“Wasn’t talking to you,” she snapped, turning away to listen to the rest of the lecture.

“Hello class, I am Professor Wissenschaft, and this is Technology Studies,” said a middle aged woman with steel grey hair the next day. “I used to work in Atlas as part of the Research and Development team of the military, and helped build the Atlesian Knight-130, so I know good technology when I see it.”  
“Those things are nasty,” Moria thought she heard someone say. She turned around to see Blake, but she was acting like she hadn’t said anything.  
“What this class is about is the many technologies we use and how they work and relate to our day to day lives as Huntsman,” said Professor Wissenschaft. “Now, I’d like to start by telling you about the project that will be worth half your mark for this class: you need to build a machine capable of aiding you in a fight against a Grimm.”  
“What?” asked Ruby. “We already have our own weapons. Isn’t that enough?”  
“True, and you may never even use this device in battle,” said Wissenchaft. “However, you and your team must still come up with something. It does not necessarily have to help fight the Grimm, it can be a defensive or protective machine. One team made a robot that was synced to their auras, and as soon as they were almost drained it would rush in, and either heal their wounds or take them from the battlefield, depending on the amount of danger present. Another made a machine that blinded Grimm so they could either escape or attack.”  
“A torch,” said Nootau sarcastically. “They made a torch.”  
“It fulfilled the requirements of the project,” said the professor. “I’m telling you this now because I want to give you as much time to think about it as possible. Feel free to draw inspiration from your other classes, since any kind of knowledge can be used in the fight against evil.”

“Class, I’m Professor Shamhail,” said an old man who entered the classroom. “I am your Weapons Mastery teacher. Before you ask, yes this class is important, even though you would obviously have got into this school by being masters of your weapon of choice. This class is designed to teach you how to fight with any weapon put in front of you.”  
“Oh, as if anyone could disarm Crescent Rose from me,” said Ruby dismissively.  
The professor sighed. “There’s always a volunteer,” he said, shaking his head. “Well Miss Rose, come on down.”  
“Oh, uh, okay,” said Ruby. “But I don’t really want to hurt an old ma…” Before she could finish her sentence, Professor Shamhail had jumped behind her and snatched Crescent Rose out of her hand. “HEY! I wasn’t ready.”  
“And as a result, you could have died,” said the professor, pointing Ruby’s weapon in its gun form at its owner. “See, now that you’re disarmed, you have nothing. What are you gonna do?”  
Ruby thought for a moment, then seemed to teleport to the front of the room, leaving a whirlwind of rose petals in her wake. “I grab your weapon from your desk,” she said, picking up a pistol he’d left out.  
“Meanwhile, I’m still armed with your weapon, you have no cover, and you don’t even know if that gun’s loaded,” said Shamhail. “Plus I have this.” The old professor pulled out a gun from under his jacket and immediately opened fire on Ruby. The whole class gasped in horror, but soon found Ruby unharmed. “Relax, they’re water pellets,” said the professor. “The point I’m trying to make is that you need to be prepared for any situation, and a good weapon or three is the best way to do that.”  
“Excuse me, but you have three weapons?” asked Ruby, taking her weapon back from the professor. “What’s the other one?”  
“Silly girl. I don’t have three weapons,” said the professor, walking to a curtain’s drawstring and pulling it. The curtain fell away, revealing a wall full of every weapon imaginable. “I have three hundred weapons. You name a melee and a ranged weapon, I’ve probably combined them.”  
“Ooh, have you combined a whip with a rocket launcher?” asked Nora.  
“Why yes,” said Shamhail, pulling down a small rocket launcher. He then proceeded to transform it into a bullwhip. “By the end of the first year of this class, you will have done one of two things: either upgrade your current weapon to be more versatile, or create a second weapon to carry with you, in case your first is unavailable. By the end of your second year, you will have done the other. The choice is yours, students.”

“Well, that was an easy enough first week,” said Nootau, throwing himself onto his bed. “Time to rest up until next week.”  
“Are you kidding? We have a ton of homework,” said Lyndal. “There’s the essay on the Great War for Oobleck’s class, and practicing that fighting stance for Goodwitch’s class, and…”  
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll get right on that,” said Nootau, not getting up.  
Lyndal screamed in frustration. “Are you even gonna try? Because I want, no, NEED to get a pass here, and you’re not helping,” yelled Lyndal, storming out.  
Nootau sat up, looking confused. “Jeez, what did I do?” he asked.  
Moria just shook her head in disappointment. “You really are clueless, aren’t you?” she said. “Remember, you’re on a team now. So if you fail, it’s not just you that fails.” Moria left the room, followed by Tehuti, leaving Nootau confused about what just happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys. Just a note about their classes: I took a guess at the sorts of classes they’d be taking at a school like Beacon. I’m also taking a guess at Professor Peach’s class, based on the limited information we have about her. I did take some inspiration for class ideas from the Dead Fantasy Facebook group (I asked them for ideas a while back), so if any of them are reading this, thanks guys. Well, see you next time.


	6. Weekend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the end of the first week at Beacon, and Lyndal is still pissed at Nootau's attitude. Can he do anything about it? Yeah, probably.

“I just don’t get it,” complained Nootau on Saturday morning. “I was just trying to help, and Lyndal keeps flipping out at me. What should I…what’s that look for?”  
Montgomery sighed heavily. “You really are clueless, aren’t you?” he asked, shaking his head in disapproval.  
“Why does everyone keep asking that?” snapped Nootau. “Look, what am I supposed to do?”  
“For one thing, you need to put in the hard yards and actually do some work,” said Montgomery.  
“Oh, as if you’ve done all that homework already,” said Nootau.  
“Actually…” said Montgomery, revealing a small stack of papers.  
“Nerd,” muttered Nootau under his breath.  
“No, I’m just a workaholic,” said Montgomery. “Look, there’s really not that much to do. There’s an essay for Oobleck, practicing a battle stance for Goodwitch, and a rundown of your Semblance for Dynami. I can help you with the essay, and if you want to practice the stance with someone I’ll be happy too, but surely even you can summarise your Semblance.”  
“You mean the inability to feel temperature?” asked Nootau. “Do I need to even write that down for her?”  
“Depends. Do you want everyone to know?” asked Montgomery.  
“Does it make a difference?” asked Nootau. “How can anyone exploit that?”  
“Just because you can’t feel temperature doesn’t mean it can’t hurt you,” said Montgomery. “Remember when you caught fire? You didn’t feel it, but your chest had third degree burns.”  
Nootau shuddered. “Don’t remind me,” he said. “That was the moment I came to you for help.” Nootau stared off into space for a minute, then snapped out of it. “Okay, I’m gonna need help with the essay at least, but I think just getting on top of my homework isn’t going to be enough to change Lyndal’s opinion of me.”  
“Respect is earned, not given,” said Montgomery. “Come on, let’s get to work.”

“Ugh, Nootau is such an idiot,” said Lyndal, finally putting her weapon away.  
“I think we established that after your…venting,” said Moria, looking around the room at the ruined training dolls.  
“Goodwitch is going to be pretty annoyed when she has to fix all this up,” said Grace, slightly concerned at her friend’s fury.  
“What do I care?” snapped Lyndal. “He’s such an arrogant, cocky jerk. Why did I have to get paired with him?”  
“Look, Lyndal, the fact is you have been, so…” started Moria.  
“So what? I should put up with him?” demanded Lyndal.  
“Well, you’re a leader now,” said Grace. “So, even if you don’t like him, you should find a way to work with him.”  
“I don’t even know how I got to be a leader,” said Lyndal. “I’m probably the least skilled on my team, I’m nowhere near the smartest. I’m pretty sure I only got this position because my father bribed Ozpin.”  
“What?” asked Moria and Grace at the same time.  
“My dad. He can’t stand to see his precious little girl fail, so whenever it looks like I can’t do it, he throws money at it until it goes away,” said Lyndal. “I shouldn’t even be at Beacon.”  
“Finally, she admits it,” said Cardin, coming out from a hiding spot at the back of the room. “Seriously princess, was that so hard?”  
“Oh, get lost Cardin,” said Lyndal, flinging her boomerang at him. The boomerang caught Cardin in the chest, knocking him back against the wall. “I’m going back to the dorm to study. I’ll see you guys later, okay?” She caught her returning weapon and left the room.  
“Lyndal, wait…” started Grace.  
“Let her go. I’m sure she’ll be fine later,” said Moria, watching her teammate leave.

“Stupid Ozpin, making me lead a team when I’m clearly unqualified,” muttered Lyndal. She hadn’t gone back to her room as she said she would, but instead had been wandering the grounds with no particular destination in mind.  
“Well, most people call me rather brilliant, but I guess everyone’s definitions differ,” said someone behind Lyndal, surprising her. She spun around to see Professor Ozpin standing there, casually sipping his coffee.  
“Oh, uh, Professor,” stammered Lyndal. “I…err…I didn’t see you there.”  
“Oh, please, don’t let my presence interrupt your muttering,” said the professor, coming towards her. “Come on, Miss Kaleen, what’s on your mind?”  
“Oh, uh, it’s nothing really,” stammered Lyndal.  
“Miss Kaleen, I’ve been an educator of young people a very long time now. There are very few complaints I haven’t already heard. Now, tell me what’s on your mind,” said Ozpin sternly.  
“It’s just that…why? Why would you accept my father’s bribe?” demanded Lyndal. “I’m obviously not qualified to be leader, so why…”  
“What makes you think I accepted your father’s bribe?” asked Ozpin, interrupting Lyndal.  
“As if you didn’t,” said Lyndal. “Why else would you…”  
“What is a leader?” asked Ozpin. “In your opinion.”  
“They’re someone who knows what they’re doing, and can actually fight, and people follow them,” said Lyndal.  
“You’re forgetting something rather important,” said Ozpin. “A good leader will put everyone else’s safety before their own. Now, a call to a Mr. Murdoch Maraiche tells me that you fought a Great A’Tuin about a week before you came here. I would hesitate to attack one of these dangerous Grimm, yet you took it on by yourself.”  
“So what?” demanded Lyndal. “It was going to kill innocent people. Someone had to do something.”  
“And you did,” said Ozpin. “Not only that, but you have confessed to me that you have many faults, though I have seen you working as hard as you can to make up for these flaws.” Ozpin took another sip of coffee before he spoke again. “When choosing a leader, I take into account many things, Ms Kaleen. Strength in battle isn’t always the deciding factor. Sometimes strength of character is enough.” Ozpin began to walk away, but turned to say one last thing to Lyndal before he left. “Every decision I make is my own, because I believe it’s for the best, though admittedly some don’t turn out that way. Maybe your father offered me something, but that doesn’t mean I accepted it.”  
Lyndal thought about this for a moment. She had heard Ozpin was a genuinely kind person, and from what she’d observed of him in the past, that seemed to hold true. Maybe he really didn’t accept that bribe…

“There she is,” yelled the last person she wanted to talk to right now.  
“For crying out loud Cardin, what’s it gonna take for you to leave me alone?” demanded Lyndal, turning to see he’d brought his whole team with him.  
“Hey, you’re the one who attacked our buddy,” said Russel. “Don’t start what you can’t finish.”  
“And you’re gonna retaliate by fighting me four against one?” asked Lyndal, trying to back away.  
“What’s wrong? Didn’t think you’d have to pay for your crime?” asked Dove.  
“I’m pretty sure any crime committed against Cardin is nullified by the fact it’s against Cardin,” said Nootau, strolling up to stand beside Lyndal.  
“I don’t need you here. This is my fight,” said Lyndal, drawing her weapon.  
“Really? Do you really think you can take on four of them at once?” asked Nootau, pulling out his own weapon.  
“You heard her, she said get lost Nootau,” said Lark. “We have no beef with you.”  
“I do,” said Cardin. “Let him fight. I wanna beat some sense into him.”  
“Well, guess we’re in this together,” said Nootau as Team CRDL drew their weapons. “Don’t hold back.”  
“Wasn’t planning on it,” said Lyndal, launching her boomerang at Cardin. This time he knocked it aside with his mace, so Lyndal tried to block the blow with her harpoon. Unfortunately, she didn’t take into account Cardin’s brute strength, which allowed the force of the blow to throw her aside easily. Cardin jumped above her to make a crushing blow, but Nootau got in the way, throwing him off balance.  
“Back off,” he said, lighting his sword on fire. Nootau swiped the sword in his opponent’s general direction, which let off fiery waves at Team CRDL. These waves managed to knock Lark and Dove off their feet, however Cardin managed to block the blow, and Russel was fast enough to dodge them. Russel threw himself forward at Nootau, and landed both feet on his chest, kicking him backwards.  
“Get him,” snarled Cardin, leading Lark and Dove in the charge against Nootau. Just as Team CRDL were about to land their respective blows on Nootau, the sound of a rapidly firing gun sounded, and the four of them were thrown back.  
“Hey boys, that’s quite a game you’re playing. Mind if I join?” asked Coco playfully, her Gatling gun smoking. The second year’s smile suddenly disappeared as she picked Cardin up by the front of his shirt. “You mess with these two again, I’ll let Yatsuhashi handle you, and trust me, he’s far less gentle than I am. That goes for Velvet too. Now, get the hell out of my sight.” The members of Team CRDL quickly got up and ran, knowing she wasn’t kidding. “You guys okay?”  
“I guess,” said Nootau. “Though your aim was a bit close. Look.” Nootau bent down and picked up some strands of his red hair that looked like they’d been burnt off by a passing bullet. “Thanks for the save though.”  
“Oops, sorry,” said Coco. “But like I said on your first day, you’ll always have a friend with Team CFVY.” Coco turned to Lyndal to help her up. “Nootau’s a good guy. You’re lucky to have a teammate like him.”  
“Uh…thanks,” said Lyndal as the older girl left. Lyndal turned to Nootau, who was watching Coco leave too. “So…I guess I owe you an apology. I mean, I don’t like you, but if we’re going to be working together, I guess we have to figure out a way around that.”  
“Oh really?” asked Nootau slyly, wrapping an arm around Lyndal’s shoulder. “So you think this could be the start of a beautiful friendship?”  
“Don’t push your luck,” said Lyndal, removing his arm from her shoulder and heading back to their dorm.


	7. Dreams of the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moria's having nightmares, and it's screwing up her focus. 'Coz no-one ever done a plot like that, right?

_“Moria, get back inside,” said her father, grabbing his sword._  
“Daddy, who were those men?” asked Moria.  
“They were bad men, okay sweetie?” said her father, ushering her into a closet.  
“Where are you going daddy?” asked Moria. “Where’s Mummy?”  
“Just stay here darling. I’ll be back soon, just don’t come out until I come to get you,” said her father, closing the closet door. Moria could hear his footsteps retreating.  
“Daddy? DADDY!?” cried Moria, as she heard a low snarl coming from outside… 

Moria woke with a start, gasping for breath. She looked across at her alarm clock, and saw that it was 3.18 am. ‘Why am I having dreams about that day?’ she thought to herself, throwing herself back down onto the pillow. ‘Yes, I’m upset about it, but I’m beyond it now. Aren’t I?’ Moria sighed quietly and tried to get back to sleep, but suspected it wouldn’t come.

“Moria, are you okay?” asked Lyndal at breakfast the next day. “It looks like you didn’t sleep too well.”  
“I’m fine,” said Moria, pouring herself a third cup of coffee.  
“Really?” asked Lyndal. “Because as your leader, if there’s anything you want to talk about…”  
“I swear, it’s nothing,” said Moria, starting to look more awake.  
“That’s good, because we have the Grimm Studies test today,” said Nootau. “And since you’re the brains of the group, we need you to do well so that we don’t all fail.”  
“Nootau, we’ve been over this,” said Montgomery. “They can expel individuals for failing if they rely on the hard work of one member too much. That’s why you need to study for yourself.”  
“But it’s hard,” complained Nootau.  
“Atlas wasn’t built in a day,” remarked Tehuti. “You want to prove yourself, you need to put in work.”  
“Come on, we’re gonna be late,” said Lyndal, grabbing her things. On her way out, Grace leaned in next to her.  
“Keep an eye on Moria,” whispered Grace. “I don’t know what it is, but I sense she’s a bit distracted by something. Something dark.”  
“I suspected as much,” Lyndal whispered back, exiting the cafeteria.

“Good morning class,” said Professor Port. “Oh ho, aren’t you in for a treat today. I want to see how much of my teaching has stuck with you. Of course, I’m expecting a lot of it, since who could get bored of such stories of heroism and bravery like mine? Ahem, anyway, the test will run for an hour, after which I’ll collect your papers and you can leave early…” Several students quietly cheered at this. “You will receive your results by the end of the day via your scrolls.” Port looked over at a clock on the wall. “The time is now 9.05, the test will conclude at 10.05. You may begin.”  
Moria flipped over the paper and started reading the questions. The first half was multiple choice, followed by several short answer questions, and an essay about your most memorable Grimm fight. Moria whipped through the first part with ease, and decided to get the essay out of the way now, when she started thinking about her dream from last night. ‘No, not now’, she thought to herself, but her memory wouldn’t be silenced.

_“Daddy?” said Moria, peeking out of the closet. It had been half an hour since he’d put her in there. Surely he’d come back to check on her soon? Outside, she could hear people shouting and the sounds of guns firing. Tentatively, she walked towards the front door. As she did, she heard the growls of something unlike anything she’d ever seen before. Were these the creatures of Grimm her father told her about?  
Moria reached the door and put her hand on the handle, but didn’t open it. Did she want to have a look at these things? These monsters her father told her not to get close to? Before she could think about that, she heard it: something was sniffing around near the door. Could it smell her? Slowly, she backed away from the door, but didn’t see the table just behind her. The table fell over, and a vase sitting on it smashed. Outside, the monster howled…_

“Ten minutes remaining,” announced Professor Port at the front of the classroom. Moria shook her head to clear her mind, and realised she’d only half finished the essay, and hadn’t even started the short answer questions.  
Moria furiously finished the paragraph she was on for her essay, then started on the short answer questions. She wasn’t sure some of them were correct, but she didn’t want to leave anything blank.  
“Five, four, three, two, one, and pens down,” said Port. “Now, not to worry students, this is for me as much as you. If I know what areas of the subject you’re struggling with, I can now adjust my lessons to include more lectures on those topics.”  
“Oh God, please no,” muttered Yang, who was just behind Moria.  
“Class dismissed,” said Port. “And remember, later today I’ll let you know how you went. If there’s any of you that need a bit of extra help, I’ll let you know then.”  
Moria sighed, and picked up her things. Outside the classroom, she joined her teammates. “Thank God that’s over,” said Nootau. “Probably failed it, but at least I tried. Moria’s score should keep me afloat, right Moria?” Moria’s only response was to nervously giggle.  
“Moria, what’s wrong?” asked Lyndal.  
“It…it’s nothing,” said Moria. “Come on, we got Tactics after lunch.”

“How long do you think we have to wait for our results?” asked Nootau, lying on his bed holding his scroll. It was five o’clock that night, and they still hadn’t heard anything.  
“Patience,” said Tehuti. “There are forty students in his class. Professor Port just has a lot of work to…” At that moment, all four of their scrolls went off.  
“Finally,” said Nootau, opening the new message icon. “Hey, I got 52%. Maybe I’m not so bad.”  
“Stop bragging. I got 64%” said Lyndal.  
“85%” said Tehuti.  
Nootau whistled. “Nice,” he said. “Of course, Moria beat you with her score of…” Nootau turned to face Moria.  
“I…gotta see Professor Port,” said Moria, rushing out of the room.  
“Uh oh, looks like someone only got 99%,” said Nootau.  
“I don’t think that was it,” said Lyndal, following Moria out, but she’d already disappeared around a corner.

“Now, I suppose you know why I asked you all to come here,” said Professor Port, standing at the front of the room. The classroom only had himself, Moria, Jaune, Balaraj, and all of Team CRDL. “If this were an actual exam, you would have failed. I’m not sure if it was lack of studying, lack of focus, or some other problem, but I wish to inform you all know that you either pick up, or pack up.”  
“So that’s why Moria’s here,” said Jaune. “You’ve organised for her to be a tutor to help us out.”  
“If only,” said Professor Port. “She only scored 47%. She is currently failing this class.”  
“Wh…what?” stammered Jaune. “But Pyrrha’s always going on about how smart she is. How could she…”  
“Yes, I’d like to know that too,” said Professor Port. “This isn’t like you Moria. What happened?”  
“She’s probably realised someone as tiny as her can’t hope to ever become a Huntress,” said Cardin. “Honestly, I’m surprised she’s lasted this long.”  
“I’m not,” said Port. “Her scores have been fine up until this point. So Miss Chinook, I repeat, what’s wrong?”  
“It’s…it’s nothing, I swear,” said Moria.  
“If there’s something you want to talk about in private…” started Port.  
“I said I’m FINE!” yelled Moria, grabbing her things and storming out of the lecture room.  
“Heh, typical woman, am I right guys?” said Cardin, eliciting a laugh from his teammates, while Jaune and Balaraj glared at them. ‘I gotta do something, but what?’ wondered Balaraj, as he grabbed his things and exited the room.


	8. Trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moria continues to deny that her past is getting to her, but what exactly happened to her? And how did it influence her decision to become a Huntress?

_Moria ran away from the door, through the living room, into the kitchen. She needed to get out of there. She ran for the back door, then paused. From what she’d heard about these creatures, these ‘Grimm’, they were very rarely alone. There’d have to be a pack of them, surely. She couldn’t go out the back without checking to make sure the coast was clear._  
Behind her, she heard something attack the front door. Quickly, Moria climbed onto the kitchen counter, since she was too short to see out the window from the floor. Cautiously peering out, she saw one: a large black wolf-like monster with glowing eyes. It didn’t seem to notice her, but it didn’t seem interested in leaving the backyard any time soon.  
Moria was trapped. A Grimm waiting in the backyard, and another one that seemed to be tearing down the front door. She only had one chance left: hide. Moria climbed down from the counter, and looked for a suitable hiding spot. Where was a horrible monster unlikely to look? Eventually, Moria decided on the kitchen pantry, just as the front door gave way… 

It wasn’t going to be a good day. Cardin wanted to make sure everyone at school knew that Moria was failing. Fortunately, most of the students either didn’t care, or were on Moria’s side. That, however, didn’t seem to discourage Cardin and his friends.  
“Oh, how the mighty have fallen,” mocked Cardin, surrounding Moria with the rest of his team. “Got tired of trying to prove how smart you are, did you?”  
“Cardin, you’re failing too,” snapped Yang. “In fact, Moria still got a higher score than you.”  
“Hey, I’m not the one who values grades above everything,” said Cardin. “Besides, I won’t fail. If it looks like I might, my father just funnels a little ‘donation’ over to Beacon, and suddenly I’m miraculously passing again.”  
“Just leave her alone Cardin,” said Lyndal. “Besides, Ozpin doesn’t accept bribes. He told me himself.”  
“Isn’t that exactly what someone who accepts bribes would say?” asked Russel.  
“Well so far he’s given me more reason to trust him than you,” said Lyndal. “Now get lost, or I’ll let Yang loose on you.”  
“I’d like to see you stop me if they do go away,” said Yang, her eyes flashing red.  
“Whatever losers, we’re too good for you guys anyway,” said Cardin, leading his team away.  
“Didn’t your kid sister take Cardin down in one blow?” Nootau asked Yang.  
“Her kid sister is standing right here,” snapped Ruby. “But seriously, Moria, what’s wrong?”  
“It’s nothing,” said Moria. “Can we just leave it alone?”  
“It’s not nothing,” said Tehuti. “You’re the smartest one of us. You should have aced that test. Instead, you’re getting told to straighten up, or fail.”  
“I don’t mind getting higher grades than you for once, but not if you’re not at your best,” said Pyrrha. “Tell us. Please?”  
“No,” said Moria. “Look, we’ve got class. Can we please leave this? I had a bad day and flunked one test. That’s it. Nothing to worry about.”  
“Then why do you keep talking about your father in your sleep?” asked Lyndal. Moria froze. “Something happened to him, didn’t it?”  
“It’s okay, you can talk about it with us,” said Ren. “Many of us have a past we’d rather keep hidden.”  
“And that’s where it should stay,” said Moria, grabbing her things and leaving.  
“We’ll get through to her eventually,” said Blake.  
“I hope so. She’s getting kind of testy about this,” said Grace.  
“Pyrrha, you grew up with her right?” asked Montgomery. “Do you know what happened to her parents?”  
“I do,” said Pyrrha. “But I’m not sure it’s my place to tell you.”  
“It’s for her own good,” said Tehuti. “Please Pyrrha.”  
“Well…” started Pyrrha, and began explaining things to the group.

Moria was leaving the library later that day, still fuming at her teammates constant prying. What happened to her wasn’t their business. Why did they have to keep making a big deal out of it?  
She soon got back to the dorm and opened the door to find Tehuti already there. “Hey,” he said, but Moria ignored him. “You wanna talk about what happened earlier?”  
“No,” said Moria. “I just want to forget it and move on.”  
“Look, it’s okay, I get it. We all do. Losing your parents like that can’t be good,” said Tehuti. Moria stopped where she was, and stared daggers at him.  
“Where did you hear this?” she demanded, ready to attack Tehuti, despite him being over a foot and a half taller than her, and several times stronger than her.  
“Pyrrha told us,” said Tehuti. “And you need to talk to someone about this.”  
“No I don’t,” snapped Moria.  
“Yes you do,” said Tehuti. “Emotional trauma like the loss of your parents after a raid on your village doesn’t just go away.”  
“Shut up. Now,” said Moria, in a tone that clearly didn’t allow argument.  
“It’s okay,” said Tehuti. “Just let it out. We’re all here for you.”  
“SHUT! UP!” screamed Moria, as she unleashed an invisible wall that slammed into Tehuti, knocking him backwards into the wall. Moria shook her head, suddenly realising what she’d done. “Oh God, Tehuti, are you okay?”  
“Hey, don’t worry, I’ve had worse,” said Tehuti, picking himself up off the floor.  
“It’s just…” started Moria, welling up with tears. “I…I realised last week it’s been ten years since then. I…I miss them so much.” She couldn’t hold it back anymore. Tears streamed down her face, and she couldn’t speak anymore, even if she wanted to.  
“It’s okay,” repeated Tehuti, embracing the small girl. “We’ve spoken to Goodwitch already. She’s organising a councillor for you to talk to. Hopefully they’ll be able to get you back to your old self.” Moria didn’t speak, she just nodded as she continued crying into Tehuti’s shirt.

_‘It’s in the kitchen’, thought Moria. ‘I can hear its claws clattering against the tiles. And it can smell me. I’m going to die.’ The claws got closer, until they stopped right outside the pantry. Then she heard the monster howl in victory as it started tearing down the pantry door. Moria closed her eyes and pushed herself as far back into the wall as possible. She tried to picture a barrier between herself and the Grimm, but knew it was hopeless. Nothing was going to save her…_  
…five seconds of silence went by. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Why was the monster savouring the kill so much? Moria peeked up to see the Grimm trying to attack her, but seemed incapable of getting to her, like there really WAS a barrier between them. The monster roared in frustration, but couldn’t through. It tried another couple of times, then came the sounds of gunshots. The Grimm fell away, revealing three men in uniform, each with a red shield clearly visible.  
“Guys, we have a survivor here,” called one of the men, going over to pick Moria up. However, when he got close, he seemed unable to reach out to her. “What the? What’s happening?”  
“I…I don’t know,” whimpered Moria.  
“It’s okay sweetie, we’re with the Redemption Corps,” said one of the men. “We’re here to rescue anyone attacked by the Grimm. Now, do you know where your parents are?”  
“N…no,” she Moria, slowly getting up. “Mummy disappeared when those men attacked, then daddy left to protect me, but he hasn’t come back yet…” Moria wiped away a tear and approached the men.  
“Hey, that barrier’s gone,” said the first man. “Was that your Semblance honey?”  
“My…what?” asked Moria.  
“Your Semblance,” said the man. “Everyone has one. Some are pretty mundane, some are extremely powerful. I reckon yours just protected you from that Grimm.”  
“But…I didn’t know I had it,” said Moria. “How could I use something I don’t even know about?”  
“Many people activate their Semblance in a situation where they’re stressed or frightened, even if they don’t mean to,” said the last man. “I have an uncle who lives in the mountains who can train you, if your parents allow it.”  
“Rick,” scolded the first man.  
“Oh, right,” said the man. “Or if you want to go. How’s that sound kiddo?”  
Moria wiped away another tear and nodded. She didn’t know where her parents were, or if they were coming back, but she was sure of one thing: she had been more terrified than she had ever been today. No-one should have to face that kind of terror, and if she had anything to do with it, they wouldn’t have to. 


	9. Raw Power

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lyndal reveals her Semblance, and how devastatingly powerful it is.

“Ah, Miss Kaleen, thank you for coming,” said Professor Dynami. “Thank you for coming. I assume you know why you’re here?”  
“I do,” said Lyndal. “And I’ve been meaning to talk to you about it for a while…”  
“Miss Kaleen,” interrupted the professor. “As I told you in our first class, being ashamed of your Semblance is okay. We’ll find a practical use for it.”  
“I’m not ashamed of it,” said Lyndal. “It’s that I can’t control it properly.”  
“Oh?” said Dynami. “Well, what is your Semblance?”  
“Control of water,” said Lyndal. “But it’s incredibly dangerous. I nearly drowned myself just before term started because I couldn’t control it.”  
“I see…” said Dynami, pouring a glass of water. “Show me.”  
“What?” asked Lyndal.  
“Show me how little control you have,” said the professor. “It’ll give me a starting point for us to work from.”  
“But I could hurt you,” replied Lyndal.  
“I wouldn’t think you could do much damage with so little water,” said Dynami. “I want to see if you can give me a drink by carefully lifting the water out of the glass and into my mouth. Just relax and do your best, you’re not being graded for this.”  
“O…okay,” said Lyndal, taking a deep breath and focusing as hard as possible. She felt the water carefully rising in the glass. Gently she moved it up, up, up…before it shot straight ahead, smashing through the glass and throwing Dynami into the wall. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry.”  
“It…it’s okay,” gasped the professor, slightly winded and very stunned at the force behind the attack. “Guess you can do a fair bit of damage with that amount of water.”  
“That’s why I try to avoid using it,” said Lyndal. “It’s so powerful, but very unpredictable.”  
“Indeed it is,” said the professor. “Do your teammates know about your Semblance?”  
“No,” said Lyndal. “They’d make me practice it, and I’d end up hurting them, and…”  
“You do need to practice it,” said Dynami. “Your Semblance is a very powerful ace in the hole, and if used effectively, could make you one of the most powerful Huntresses in history.”  
“I’m not THAT powerful,” said Lyndal. “Am I? I mean, Pyrrha’s basically a one girl army, and Ruby is so fast, and Yang’s so strong, Moria’s really smart and quick…”  
“And they’re extremely skilled in their own ways,” said Dynami. “But your power could blow them all out of the water. Ultimately the decision is yours to make, but consider talking to your team about this.”  
“I will,” said Lyndal, grabbing her things and leaving.

“Hey Lyndal,” called Tehuti, catching up to her as she was heading back to her dorm. “What did Dynami want?”  
“Oh, uh, she just wanted to see my Semblance,” said Lyndal.  
“Oh, okay,” said Tehuti. “Well, what is your Semblance? You haven’t told any of us yet, and I think we should at least know each other’s…”  
“Why’s it so important?” snapped Lyndal.  
“Well, there’s that tournament coming up,” said Tehuti. “If we know what everyone’s capable of from the start, we can plan a strategy around it and hopefully…”  
“What does it matter if you know mine though? I’m not going to be in the fights past the first round,” said Lyndal. “I’m too much of a liability.”  
“That’s not true,” said Tehuti. “Your power might be the thing that gets us across the line. We just need to know what it is.”  
“Look, it’s not…” started Lyndal, just as she heard something nearby. “Hey, that sounds like…” She didn’t finish that thought, she just ran towards the voices. Tehuti followed close behind.

“So you’re a faunus too,” said Cardin, pulling on Grace’s wing. “Does it hurt when I do this?”  
“Yes, like if someone was pulling on your hair,” said Grace, trying to pull away.  
“Hey, come on, we’re just checking them out,” said Russel, pulling on the other wing.  
“Get off her,” said Lyndal, coming to a stop in front of them. “You guys seriously need a new hobby.”  
“Ooh, we’re SO scared of wittle Wyndal,” mocked Cardin.  
“I’m warning you. Leave now,” said Lyndal.  
“I’d do it if I were you. I can sense something dark coming from her,” said Grace.  
“Oh, what’s she gonna do?” asked Lark. “She’s always been a joke of a Huntress, and she always will…” Before he could finish that sentence, he was suddenly hit by a massive flood of water coming from the direction of a nearby fountain. The other three members of Team CRDL stood there stunned, as the water came back and struck them down, like a flying brick wall was thrown at them.

“I warned you,” said Lyndal, helping Grace up. “Are you okay?”  
“The question is: are you okay?” asked Grace. “I’ve never seen you like that.”  
“Was…was that your Semblance?” asked Tehuti. “You control water?”  
Lyndal was quiet for a moment before she replied. “Not very well, but yes, my Semblance is water control,” she said.  
“My God…” said Tehuti. “That…was incredible.”  
“But I can’t control it that well,” Lyndal pointed out.  
“Hey, we’ve got several months before the tournament,” said Tehuti. “Hell, with power like that, you might not even need control.”  
“Is that all my Semblance is to you? A tool for victory?” demanded Lyndal. “Nothing to do with the fact it’s a dangerous power I can’t control, potentially hurting or killing someone with it. Is that it? Is it?”  
“Of course not,” said Tehuti, backing away from his infuriated team leader. “It’s just…”  
“I don’t want to use my Semblance unless I have to,” said Lyndal. “If I lose control, there’s no telling how much damage I could cause.”  
“That’s why he should help you to control it,” suggested Grace.  
“I should?” said Tehuti.  
“Well, you are much stronger than most people here,” said Grace. “So, if Lyndal hurts you, you can at least take the hit and still be standing. We’ve seen what Lyndal’s capable of. Yang probably wouldn’t be able to take a blow like that.”  
Tehuti turned to face Lyndal. “Well, Lyndal? Are you interested?” he asked.  
Lyndal thought about it for a minute. “Well…okay,” she said. “Just don’t tell the others yet. I don’t want them to know until we’ve made some good progress.”  
“Agreed,” said Tehuti, shaking her hand. “We’ll start tomorrow. Okay?”  
“Okay,” said Lyndal.


	10. Tournament Training

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When third year team HRMN kick LMNT out of the training room they were using, Nootau takes it upon himself to fight back. How's that go for him? Find out now.

Moria and Nootau crept slowly through the forest, keeping as quiet as possible as they moved. At the slightest noise they would pause, trying to gauge what they heard. Was it just an animal, or was it something else…  
Nootau stopped unexpectedly, holding out his hand to stop Moria. Silently, he signalled ahead, and Moria peered past him to see a herd of Beowolves. The pack of Grimm hadn’t noticed them yet, so Nootau signalled that he’d sneak around to the other side of the clearing, and on his signal she’d attack from where she was. Moria nodded, and watched her teammate vanish among the trees.  
What was probably only ninety seconds felt like an hour. Moria shifted nervously in the grass, waiting. ‘Come on Nootau,’ she thought, listening carefully for him to appear. She knew she’d probably hear him, but the waiting was making her anxious.  
Finally, she heard a cry from the other side of the clearing, and all the Beowolves surged towards the sound. They didn’t even notice Moria until she took the head off two Beowolves with her fans. One Beowolf was about to strike her, but Moria blocked it with her Semblance. As the Grimm tried desperately to get through to her, Moria pulled out her bow, nocked an arrow, and fired it straight through the monster’s head.  
“Moria, gimme a boost,” said Nootau, running straight towards her, several Grimm behind him. Moria nodded, putting a solid air platform in Nootau’s path, just like they’d practiced. As Nootau stepped on the platform, Moria launched him backwards. Nootau flicked a switch on his sword, and it lit on fire. As he flew towards the approaching Grimm, he started spinning around, setting two Grimm on fire, before switching to an ice blade, freezing another one. As he landed, Nootau flicked another switch, giving his sword the power of lightning, which he used to electrocute three nearby Grimm.  
Moria changed her bow to its whip form and cracked it on the frozen Grimm, shattering it. She looked around the clearing, and noticed there was no more Grimm. “I think we’re done,” she said. “Do you want me to call it?”  
“Go ahead,” said Nootau, sheathing his sword.

“SIMULATION OVER! SIMULATION OVER!” said a robotic voice, as the forest disappeared, and was replaced with an empty room. Moria and Nootau stood there, dusting themselves off, as Lyndal and Tehuti came in.  
“Wow guys, that was amazing,” said Lyndal. “Nootau, I have to admit, I was sceptical about only upgrading your weapon to use more types of Dust, but I guess I was wrong.”  
“I still need to test a lot of different elements though,” said Nootau. “Besides, I still think fire’s the best suited for my weapon.”  
“On top of that, we now know how you two work together in combat,” said Tehuti. “Soon, we’ll have an idea how each of us works off everyone else. Once we know that, we’ll be strong contenders in the Vytal Festival Tournament.”  
“Okay, let’s move on,” said Lyndal. “Me and Tehuti are next, so…”  
“Actually, this room is now booked,” said someone behind her. Team LMNT turned to see a tall pale guy, a couple of years older than them. Behind him appeared to be his team, consisting of a girl with orange eyes that looked to actually be burning, a short guy with red marks all over his body, and a tall guy who was very much overweight.

“Hey, we were here first,” snapped Nootau. “Go find another…”  
“Oh my,” said the pale guy. “I hope you don’t mean to fight. I’d rather this didn’t become a confrontation.”  
“I do though,” said the girl, a broadsword in each hand. “Just give me two minutes with that little brat, I’ll…”  
“Marcella, please,” said the pale kid. “I do beg your pardon, but Team HRMN has this training room booked at this time. Please leave.”  
“Oh yeah? And what if we…” started Nootau, sword in hand. Before he knew what was happening, the pale kid had managed to move behind him, with his sickle against Nootau’s neck.  
“I repeat,” said the pale kid. “As leader of Team HRMN, I, Hades Morte, ask you to leave, or face our wrath. We simply wish to train for the upcoming tournament, just like you and your friends.”  
“Nootau, come on,” said Moria. “We don’t need to use this specific room. There are plenty of other places we can go to train.”  
“Moria, it’s the principle of the thing,” said Nootau. “We were here first, so…”  
“And they booked the room,” said Lyndal, checking a book next to the door. “Come on, there’s nothing we can do about that.”  
Nootau glared at Hades. “This isn’t over,” he said, trying to intimidate the older boy. Hades looked back at Nootau passively, barely even blinking at the hatred being spouted at him.  
Tehuti quietly picked up his things and left, with Moria not far behind him. As she was passing the kid with spots all over him, the kid sneezed all over her. “Bless you,” said Moria, hiding her disgust as well as she could with her politeness.  
“Whatever,” muttered the spotty kid.  
“What was that?” demanded Nootau, storming up to him.  
“Forgive Nexweşî, he’s never known perfect health,” said Hades.  
“I’m not sick. I never have been,” said Nexweşî, blowing his nose.  
“That’s no excuse for being rude,” said Nootau. “Apologise.”  
“Hmm…no,” said Nexweşî.  
“Do it, or I’ll…” started Nootau, taking a step forward. Before his foot even hit the floor, Hades had his weapon back at Nootau’s throat, as did Marcella and the fat one.  
“Do what, pray tell?” asked Hades, still being quite patient.  
“I could gut him. It’d be quick, painless, for us at least, and there’d be no-one to stop us,” said Marcella.  
“Except you’d be expelled, and we wouldn’t want that to happen before you get a chance to prove your strength in the tournament, would we?” asked Hades calmly. Then, quite suddenly, Hades brought his knee up into Nootau’s groin, bringing him to his knees. Hades turned to Lyndal, the same emotionless expression still on his face. “Please remove him from my sight, before I do something much worse to him.”  
“Come on Nootau,” said Lyndal, picking him up with Tehuti’s help and carrying him out the door.  
“Yeah, run away kiddies,” jeered the fat one.  
“Silence Rehabi. They’re still ignorant first years. We as third years need to set an example to them,” said Hades.  
“You wait, I’ll get even with you,” groaned Nootau as Team LMNT left the room.

“A…a…ACHOOO!” sneezed Moria, grabbing another tissue.  
“Her temperature is 105°F,” said Tehuti. “We need to get her to a doctor.”  
“It was that Nexweşî jerk from yesterday,” said Nootau. “As if he wasn’t really sick.”  
“Nootau, you’re making a big deal out of nothing,” said Lyndal. “It’s just a cold. People get them, even first year Huntresses.”  
“Besides, they had no reason to attack Moria,” said Tehuti. “If anything, you should be the sick one.”  
“Either way, I’m still gonna stomp that splotchy jackass,” said Nootau, grabbing his weapon and leaving before anyone could stop him.

“So it’s decided,” said Hades. “Me and Marcella will represent Team HRMN in the second round of the tournament, with Marcella to take the solo rounds.”  
“You have no idea how okay with that I am,” said Marcella.  
“Pfft, of course you favour your girlfriend,” mocked Rehabi, getting a chuckle out of Nexweşî.  
Marcella glared daggers at Rehabi, but Hades kept his neutral expression. “I believe I’ve mentioned that I have no romantic interest in our teammate,” said Hades. “Of course, a simpleton like you wouldn’t be able to comprehend that.”  
“Oh, he’s got you there buddy,” said Nexweşî.  
“No he doesn’t. He only called me a…HEY! Is that one of your fancy words for idiot?” asked Rehabi.  
“It is of no concern,” said Hades. “Now, as for…”  
“HEY! Pepperoni boy,” yelled Nootau, storming up to the team.  
“I’m sorry, are you talking to me?” asked Nexweşî, trying to stare down Nootau, despite being a foot shorter than him.  
“You made Moria sick,” said Nootau. “And I don’t take too kindly to people harming my team.”  
“And I don’t take too kindly to people threatening my teammates,” said Marcella, her broadswords on display. “Please can I kick his ass Hades?”  
“Let’s all do that,” said Hades, extending the handle of his sickle. “Unless Nexweşî wishes to beat him alone?”  
“Let me have the first blow, then you can do whatever,” said Nexweşî, a small gun in his hand.  
“Then I guess I’ll have to beat you without getting hit,” said Nootau, lighting his sword on fire.

Nexweşî aimed his weapon at Nootau and began firing darts at him. Nootau ducked out of the way and knocked some darts away, but one got past and stuck into his arm. Nootau pulled it out and ran straight at Nexweşî, swinging his sword hard. Nexweşî jumped back, then changed his dart gun into a large serrated blade. Nootau swung again, only for Nexweşî to catch it in the teeth of his weapon, and jerk the sword out of Nootau’s hands.  
Nootau dived for his weapon, only to get a shield to the face from Rehabi. Nootau stumbled back, only to get tripped up by Marcella. Marcella then picked him up and threw him into the air, before fusing his swords together to make a lance. Taking a few steps back, she took a run-up and used her weapon as a pole-vault pole, launching herself up so she could kick Nootau while he was still in the air.  
Nootau fell hard towards the ground, only to stop a few inches before hitting it. Nootau turned to see Hades had hooked his sickle through a belt loop in his pants. “Now do you understand the folly of trying to pick a fight with us?” he asked, shaking Nootau around a little to emphasize how helpless he was right then.  
Nootau looked around for a way out, and saw his sword barely a foot from him. “Who says it’s folly?” said Nootau with a smirk, reaching for his sword…as it disappeared. “What the…”  
“Ah, the poison is setting in,” said Hades.  
“P…poison?” stammered Nootau.  
“You didn’t think Nexweşî’s darts were just darts, did you?” asked Hades. “Nexweşî’s Semblance is to create toxic smelling smog. However, he’s found a way to infuse it with the darts he fires from his gun. Let me guess, you hallucinated that your sword was close at hand, right?”  
“I…” started Nootau, unsure what to say.  
“I’ll take that as a yes,” said Hades. “You’re in for a rough few hours. Hallucinations, vomiting, diarrhoea, agonising pain…”  
“Cure?” asked Nootau, a look of fear crossing his face. “Is…there a cure?”  
For the first time since they’d met, Hades smiled, though this might have been another hallucination. “No cure,” said Hades, finally dropping Nootau to the ground. “So, I repeat my question: do you see the folly in fighting us?”  
Nootau was quiet for a moment, then nodded his head slightly.  
“Say it,” said Marcella, grabbing the front of Nootau’s shirt. “Nice and loud, so we can all hear it.”  
“Y…yes,” said Nootau. Marcella smirked, and threw him to the ground.  
“What should we do with him?” asked Marcella. “Because I really want to keep hurting him, but I don’t think anything I can do will match what’s about to happen to him.”  
“Just leave him,” said Rehabi. “Let the cleaners throw him out with the garbage tomorrow.”  
“That’s enough,” came a voice Nootau recognised. “I’ll be taking him.”  
“M…Monty?” asked Nootau, as Montgomery stepped into view.  
“Oh, you gonna fight us too?” asked Marcella. “Because I am ready to…”  
“Marcella,” interrupted Hades. “I take it you’re a friend of his?”  
“Yes,” said Montgomery. “And I’ll be taking him back with me, if it’s all the same to you.”  
Hades thought for a moment before replying. “Very well,” he said. “The poison in his system is non-lethal, but it will last for about four hours. In that time, I recommend you keep in or around a bathroom, because it’s about to get messy. When he recovers, tell him if he wants to mess with Team HRMN again, we will indulge him, but the outcome will likely be the same.”  
“Will do,” said Montgomery, watching Hades lead his team away. “Come on Nootau, let’s try and keep you looking somewhat dignified.”  
“Err…little late for that, shall we say?” said Nootau, and Montgomery soon realised what he meant. Wordlessly, he carried his friend to the nearest bathroom.


	11. Beware the Peaceful One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Balaraj insults Grace, so she challenges him to a duel. Will he accept, or is he a coward?

“So what happened with Nootau after you found him?” asked Grace.  
“Not to go into too much detail, but we didn’t bother cleaning his pants, we took them to the incinerator,” said Montgomery. “It was quite violent for a while there, but eventually things settled down.”  
“I’m not entirely sure you’d have wanted to be there,” said Balaraj, lying on his bed. “In fact, I can hardly imagine you coping with much violence.”  
“Balaraj, you know that’s not true,” said Montgomery. “The first time we met her, she didn’t even hesitate when the Grimm attacked her. Heck, she hurt it more than it hurt her, and she hardly had to move.”  
“But she’s so peaceful,” said Balaraj. “It’s just so hard to imagine her fighting dangerous monsters.”  
“Like Montgomery said, you’ve seen it,” said Randolph. “And there’s no way Ozpin would make her the leader if she wasn’t a capable fighter.”  
“You do know I’m still here, right?” asked Grace.  
“Indeed,” said Balaraj. “So leader, what’s the plan for the Vytal Festival? Who will represent us?”  
“Well, I was thinking me and Montgomery…” started Grace.  
“But like I said, you? Fighting?” asked Balaraj.  
“I’ll have you know when I was eleven I was the youngest member of the village guard back in Menagerie,” snapped Grace, stunning the other members of her team.  
“I’m sorry,” said Balaraj. “It’s just...you’re so peaceful, it kinda throws me…”  
“Why don’t we settle this then?” said Grace. “You and me, next Combat class. Goodwitch has been asking me to show what I can do.”  
“Wait, wha…” started Balaraj, but Grace had already left the room.  
“You really don’t get it, do you?” sighed Montgomery. “Yes, Grace is generally a pacifist, but even she can be pushed to a breaking point.”  
“Was she serious about the fight though?” asked Balaraj. “I mean, me versus her? Is that even allowed?”  
“Either way, I’ll be taking bets on who’d win,” said Randolph. “I’m putting you on 15 to 1 odds, and Grace on 3 to 1.”  
“Oh, come on man,” said Balaraj. “I’m stronger than her. We actually know that.”  
“In a fight, strength is not everything,” said Montgomery. “Come on, we’ve gotta get to class. Afterwards, we’ll see how much of you is left.”

“Good morning students,” said Professor Goodwitch. “We have a few fights scheduled for this session, starting with an odd request featuring two members of the same team. Grace Eros and Balaraj Kudaal, could you please enter the arena?”  
“Grace and Balaraj?” asked Lyndal. “Montgomery, why are they fighting?”  
“Balaraj doesn’t think Grace is tough,” explained Montgomery.  
“Ooh, yeah, this isn’t gonna end well,” said Moria.  
“While I do see why he would think that, I also know he’s wrong,” said Tehuti. “What do you think Nootau?”  
“I think the ten lien I bet with Randolph is about to be a hundred and fifty,” said Nootau.  
“Idiot,” muttered Lyndal, Moria, Tehuti, and Montgomery in unison.  
Grace and Balaraj entered the arena, Grace holding a bow, Balaraj with a pickaxe. “Fighters, are you ready?” asked Goodwitch.  
“Yes,” said Grace, carefully watching Balaraj.  
“Bring it on,” said Balaraj, looking ready to charge.  
“You may begin,” said Goodwitch.  
Balaraj ran straight at Grace, who didn’t move until the last second. When she did, she flew straight up, using her wings to keep her airborne as she fired four arrows in rapid succession. Each of the landed around Balaraj, but didn’t hit him.  
“HA! Need to work on your aim there,” said Balaraj, as the arrows started glowing. As soon as Balaraj noticed, a powerful electrical current surged through him from all four arrows.  
“Do I?” asked Grace, as Balaraj got back to his feet.  
“Okay, so that’s how you wanna play,” said Balaraj. “Fine.” Balaraj stamped one foot on the ground, which caused a small explosion that sent him flying into the air. Grace was easily able to float out of the way, but as Balaraj hit the far wall, he turned around and blasted himself at her again.  
“Stop that. You won’t hit me like that,” said Grace, again slowly moving out of the way.  
“Maybe not like this,” said Balaraj, redirecting himself again. “But maybe with this.” Balaraj changed his weapon into its shotgun form, and fired a few blasts at Grace. Grace flew backwards to avoid getting hit, but was thrown forward unexpectedly. “Exploding shells, remember?”  
“Elemental arrows, remember?” said Grace, firing another arrow at him. This time it hit his leg, and dragged him straight to the ground. Balaraj looked at his leg, only to see it encased in stone. Balaraj changed his weapon back to a pickaxe and broke the rock, but forgot to watch out for Grace, who soared down from above to kick him into a wall. Grace changed her weapon into its sword form, and pointed it at Balaraj’s throat. “Do you surrender?” she asked.  
Balaraj smiled, and kicked out her legs from under her. “Not yet,” he said, starting to get up, only for Grace to quickly pull out one of her arrows and jam in through his sleeve and into the ground. The arrow immediately froze Balaraj’s arm to the ground.  
Grace got back up and again pointing her sword at him. “How about now?” she asked, daring him to get back up. Balaraj grabbed his weapon, only for Grace to disarm him with ease. “Just give up, I won,” she said.  
Balaraj responded by trying to pull himself up, and not getting anywhere. “Fine,” he sighed. “I forfeit. You win.”  
Grace smiled, and used one of her fire arrows to melt the ice trapping him. “Glad we could come to an agreement,” she said, helping him up.

“Well done Miss Eros,” said Goodwitch, re-entering the arena. “An effective use of your faunus trait to give yourself an edge, and quick reflexes to respond to any situation. I knew there was more to you than met the eye.” Goodwitch turned to face Balaraj. “As for you Mr. Kudaal, brute strength will not win every fight, especially if your opponent takes the fight to their home advantage. You were on to something with your explosive shotgun shells, but you should have been using them from the ground, where you were more versatile. Do you understand?”  
“Yes ma’am,” said Balaraj.  
“Very good, you are dismissed,” said Goodwitch, turning her attention to the rest of the class. “Remember, a skilled fighter finds what advantage they have over an enemy, and makes them fight on their terms. Miss Eros, I hope you’re considering fighting in the Vytal Festival, because you have some real potential.”  
“I intend to, Professor Goodwitch,” said Grace, following Balaraj out of the arena.  
“Very good,” said Goodwitch. “Now, on to our next fight: Cardin Winchester and Jaune Arc, please enter the arena…”

“Grace, wait,” called Balaraj, catching up to his leader. “I…err…wanted to apologise.”  
“It’s okay, I forgive you,” said Grace.  
“Really?” asked Balaraj. “That easily?”  
“Well, beating you up was pretty fun,” said Grace with a giggle. Balaraj’s face fell, causing her to giggle more at him. “Come on, it’s lunch time. We’re having a team meeting with LMNT about the field trip for Peach’s class.” Balaraj lifted his head, and followed his leader to the cafeteria.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, as some of you may know, this is the only fanfic I’m going to be updating for the next…while, since I’m currently writing a novel. This is mostly just a head’s up; chapters might take a while to come out, since I’m going to be focusing a ton of energy on the novel. I want it to be as awesome as possible. I’ve got a short prologue written for it so far, now to start writing proper chapters, and they’ll take a while (probably). But I fully intend to keep doing fanfiction until I finish all the ideas on my profile (which, you may have noticed, is a fricken huge list). Well, until next time guys…


	12. Into the Woods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The students go on a field trip, and while Jaune's having some big character establishing moment, Teams LMNT and GMBR are having their own adventure.

“Alright Team LMNT, field trip tomorrow,” said Lyndal. “But it’s not just a day off. Professor Peach gave us an assignment, so we…”  
“If she was so determined for us to do the assignment, why isn’t she coming?” asked Nootau.  
“Because she’s also a renowned member of the Vale Council of Natural Studies,” said Moria. “That’s why she’s absent so often.”  
“In any case, Goodwitch is going to be overseeing the field trip,” said Lyndal. “So we have to attend, and we have to do the assignment.”  
“Do we though?” asked Nootau. “I mean, is the red sap going to last a week without expiring?”  
“With the amount of sugar in it, probably not,” said Tehuti. “But remember, Forever Fall is famous for not only the permanently red flora, but the world’s smallest species of Grimm.”  
“Yeah, we know. Rapier Wasps,” said Nootau. “They’re also the weakest, so nothing to worry about, right?”  
“And they’re the hardest to hit, due to their speed as much as their size,” said Moria. “They’re the only Grimm known to regularly slip past Vale’s city defences, because they’re so hard to detect. So many people have died because these things have set up a nest in someone’s house.”  
“And they’re attracted to the red sap,” said Lyndal. “So, while we’re collecting, we will have someone standing guard.”  
“Oh, come on,” whined Nootau. “What’s the big deal? They’ll never attack.”  
“They can, and they will,” said Tehuti. “And the sooner you realise that, the safer the rest of us will be.”  
“Whatever,” sighed Nootau, falling back on his bed.

"Yes, students, the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful,” said Professor Goodwitch. “But we are not here to sight-see. Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest, and I'm here to make sure none of you die while doing so."  
“Pfft, like that’s gonna happen,” muttered Nootau.  
“Shh,” said Grace, hitting him.  
"Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap,” said Goodwitch, holding up a full jar. “However, this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous back here by 4 o'clock. Have fun!"  
Teams LMNT and GMBR walked off into the forest, and soon found a bunch of trees that were ready to have the sap collected. “Okay, this will be easy,” said Lyndal, using her weapon’s harpoon form to stab one of the trees. She removed it, and the sap began pouring out. “Quick, grab a jar.” Moria handed her a jar, and she began filling it. “Nootau, keep a lookout for Grimm.”  
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” said Nootau, pretending to look for any monsters that might attack them.  
“We’ll start over here,” said Montgomery, motioning for the rest of his team to join him.

Nootau glanced around a few times, in case a Grimm did decide to appear, but everything was quiet. At least, until a faint buzzing sound started getting louder. Nootau tried to ignore it, but it kept coming. “Uh, guys?” he said. “I think we have company.”  
Tehuti and Randolph were with him in seconds. “What are we dealing with?” asked Randolph.  
“Those,” said Tehuti, pointing out the large swarm of Rapier Wasps approaching them. “And Nootau didn’t think we had to worry.”  
“Oh, wow, I was wrong. Big freaking surprise,” said Nootau, changing his weapon to its flamethrower form. “Come on, we have things to fight.” Nootau let out a blast of flames from his weapon, only for the Grimm to fly over it. “Not good.”  
“Let me handle this,” said Randolph, focusing for a moment, before unleashing his Semblance: a giant fist made of pure energy. This fist struck some of the Wasps, but most slipped through completely unfazed.  
“My turn,” said Tehuti, loading his slingshot. He fired a shot, and took down one Wasp, but there were still dozens of them left.  
“WATCH OUT!” yelled Nootau, diving out of the way of the Wasps. He fired up his flamethrower again, and managed to fry a couple of them, but there were still too many for the three of them to beat by themselves.  
“Alright, let’s do this,” said Grace, unfurling her wings and beating them hard against the incoming threat. Many of the Wasps couldn’t hold up against the blasts of wind, which was when Moria sliced them up with her bladed fans.  
“I have an idea,” said Montgomery, turning his body into its hard steel form. Drawing his weapon in its pistol form, he fired upwards into the branch of a tree, which began dripping sap onto his head. The Rapier Wasps noticed this, and began swarming towards him. Several attempted to sting him, but could only make small dents in his armour. “Now guys.” The other seven began attacking the Wasps from all angles, since the Grimm were so distracted with the sap on Montgomery’s body. Soon, every last Wasp was dead and fading away.

“Well, that was fun,” said Balaraj. “Have we got enough sap yet?”  
“Not yet,” said Grace.  
“I don’t think we’re out of danger yet either,” said Moria. “Didn’t I read somewhere that Rapier Wasps behave sort of like bees, and report food sources to the hive?”  
“Well, we did kill quite a lot of them,” said Nootau. “Maybe that was the hive?”  
“Then where was the queen?” asked Montgomery.  
“Err…” started Nootau, as a large bug crashed through the trees, followed by more angry Rapier Wasps. “There she is.”  
“Surround the queen,” said Grace, bow in hand. “Attack from all side, and don’t let it sting you.”  
“Yeah, it’ll hurt like hell,” said Balaraj.  
“Well, yeah, that tends to happen when you’re impaled,” said Tehuti.  
“Oh…” said Balaraj, pickaxe in hand. Without another word, he charged at the large Grimm and buried his weapon in its leg. The Grimm screamed in agony, and threw him off, sending him flying into Montgomery.  
Grace took flight, and began firing arrows at the Grimm. The Grimm glared at her, then directed a bunch of her minions at her.  
“Hang on Grace,” called Moria, using her Semblance to create a sort elevator to get up to her. Once there, Moria began hacking and slashing the wasps as quickly as she could.  
“Thanks Moria,” said Grace. “There’s just too many of the…OW!” Grace looked down to see one of the wasps had stung her, before it disintegrated from her Semblance. “That’s not good.”  
“Get back to Goodwitch,” said Moria. “You’ll be no good to us with Rapier venom in your system.”  
“Don’t worry,” said Grace. “We’re not too far away. I’ll head back once I start to feel woozy.”  
“If you’re sure…” said Moria, not entirely convinced.  
Back on the ground, Lyndal threw her boomerang, which cut off one of the queen’s legs. As the queen roared in agony, Lyndal ran in and stabbed her harpoon into the Grimm’s head. The Grimm again screamed, and shook its head violently until it threw Lyndal off. Lyndal flew into the air, and crashed into Moria and Grace. The three girls came crashing down to the ground, then fell through it.  
“LYNDAL!” yelled Nootau, using his flamethrower to burn the queen and a bunch of her subordinates before approaching the hole. As he got close though, the ground around the hole caved in, sealing it shut. “Oh no…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, I’m leaving you on a cliffhanger before ditching you for another couple of weeks while I write the next chapter of my novel. Speaking of psychologically torturing my characters, I’m loaning Team LMNT to Chavonnie26 for her fanfic Hogwarts Online SYOC over on fanfiction.net. Basically it’s if Sword Art Online was Harry Potter. As of this writing they haven’t appeared, but I’m sure they will soon. Well, I’ll see you guys when I feel you’ve suffered enough.


	13. Holey Moley

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lyndal, Moria, and Grace are trapped in a hole...wait, am I doing a bottle episode?

“Professor Goodwitch,” yelled Montgomery, coming to a stop just in front of the professor. “Lyndal, Grace, and Moria fell down a hole, and it caved in on them.”  
“I take it they’re trapped then?” asked Goodwitch, seeming calm despite the news.  
“Not only that, but Grace was stung by a Rapier Wasp,” said Montgomery. “We’re not sure if they’re…you know…”  
“Alright, I’m coming,” said Goodwitch, just as Blake, Yang, Nora, and Ren arrived in the clearing.  
“Professor, an Ursa’s attacking…” started Yang.  
“Come back when there’s an actual emergency,” interrupted Goodwitch, leaving with Montgomery, before turning back to face them. “Actually, go find your friend Miss Schnee. We may need her Semblance.”

Moria’s eyes fluttered open, but all she could see was darkness. “Where…what…” she began, then it came back to her: the fight with the Grimm. Being knocked out of the sky. Falling through the earth. The cave in. “Lyndal? Grace? Are you guys okay?” No answer. “Guys?” Moria felt around frantically, until she felt something very feathery. Grace. Moria slowly found Grace’s wrist and checked for a pulse. Strong, though her arm felt hot and clammy. The Rapier venom was getting to her.  
A cough nearby alerted Moria to someone else. “Moria?” came Lyndal’s voice. “Grace?”  
“Grace is out cold,” said Moria. “But she’s alive. We need to get her out of here now. She’s tough, but even she’ll have a hard time with this.”  
“Okay, good plan,” said Lyndal. “One question: how?”  
“Still working on that part,” admitted Moria.

“How are you doing guys?” asked Nootau.  
“We’re making slow progress,” said Balaraj, kneeling in the middle of the hole. “But honestly, I’m pushing my Semblance to its limits here, and they’re still at least fifty feet below us.”  
“Reign yourself in,” said Tehuti. “You turning the ground soft is making it easier for me to dig, but you’ll be no good to us exhausted.” As he was talking, Tehuti was able to lift a couple of large rocks out of the way.  
“Don’t worry girls, we’re coming,” said Randolph.

“What do we do?” asked Lyndal, trying to find Moria in the darkness.  
“Honestly, I don’t know,” said Moria. “We can assume the guys will try to dig us out, so it would make sense to stay here.”  
“Especially since we can’t see anything, and Grace is unconscious,” added Lyndal.  
“Which is the other thing we need to consider,” said Moria. “Do we try and find our own way out, just so we can get Grace some treatment quicker?”  
“Yeah…” thought Lyndal, thinking on the matter. “How far down do you think we are?”  
“Too hard to say,” said Moria.  
“Well…I say we wait for a little while, try and gauge Grace’s condition, and if it keeps getting worse we try to find an exit,” said Lyndal. “Unless you think we can dig ourselves out.”  
“I don’t think…” started Moria, then stopped. “Did you hear that?”  
“Hear what?” asked Lyndal, but then she heard it too: a high-pitched screeching sound, with the flutter of wings. “Bloodsuckers?”  
“Most likely,” said Moria, grabbing her fans.  
“This is gonna be difficult,” said Lyndal, harpoon ready. “They can see us, and we can’t see them.”  
“If only we had a light…” said Moria, as an idea struck her. “Lyndal, Grace’s arrows. Maybe she still has a fire one somewhere.”  
“On it,” said Lyndal, finding Grace’s quiver. “Can you keep them at bay?”  
“Already planning on it,” said Moria, putting her fans away and creating a barrier between them and the approaching Grimm.  
Lyndal pulled out an arrow and struck it against the rock wall, only for everything to get a little colder. “Ice one,” said Lyndal, pulling out another one. A gust of wind blasted her back against the wall, scattering the arrows everywhere. “Damn it, wind one.”  
“Hurry,” yelled Moria, the screeching of the Bloodsuckers getting deafening. A soft thud told them that one of them had flown straight into Moria’s barrier. “They’re here.”  
“Hold on, I need to find one,” said Lyndal, just as her fingers wrapped around another one. “Ah-hah.” Lyndal struck the arrow against the ground, only to feel an electrical current flow through her. “Lightning.”  
“I can’t hold this much longer,” said Moria, voice straining as the soft thuds grew louder and more aggressive.  
“Hang in there,” said Lyndal, grabbing another one. She struck it against the ground, and a bright light filled the cave. “Finally.” Lyndal pushed the arrow into the ground so that it could stand on its own, grabbed her harpoon, and charged into the fight.  
“Let’s do this,” said Moria, dropping her barrier and immediately attacking the Grimm with her fans. Lyndal launched her boomerang, slashing and stabbing anything in her path until it returned to her.

The two girls fought the Bloodsuckers for around five minutes, getting scratched and bitten as they went, but eventually emerged the victors. As the final Grimm fell to the floor, so did the two girls.  
“Well…thank God that’s over,” said Moria, a large gash on her arm dripping blood onto the floor.  
“Hopefully there aren’t too many more of them,” said Lyndal, her clothes ripped and small scratches bleeding across her body. Lyndal tore a bit off her jacket and began trying to treat Moria’s wound.  
The two were silent for a little while before Moria started to talk. “Lyndal,” she said. “I’ve seen you in plenty of fights, and you really put your all in, but you’re still one of the lowest ranked fighters in our class.”  
“Yeah, I know,” said Lyndal. “It’s so frustrating. I mean, I train so hard, but if I went one-on-one with Cardin…”  
“I know,” said Moria. “I’ve gotta ask, in case we don’t get out of here…”  
“Don’t talk like that,” said Lyndal, tying off Moria’s makeshift bandage. “We will get out of here. The guys are hard at work at that, I’m sure.”  
“Well, I still have to ask,” said Moria. “Why become a Huntress? Most people who weren’t good enough at fighting would just give up. And yet, you keep going. Why?”  
Lyndal thought about it for a while. “I think it’s because I want to,” said Lyndal. “As a kid, I wanted to be a hero, to go out and save people. Unfortunately, my father didn’t approve. He said I shouldn’t worry about these things, because we have enough money that we never have to work a day in our lives. But still I pushed, and eventually my father caved.”  
“That’s great, sticking to your dream like that,” said Moria.  
“Unfortunately,” continued Lyndal. “My father came up with a new idea. What if he could make me the greatest Huntress ever? He spared no expense to make me stronger, better. But he didn’t want to think I was less than perfect, so he told my teachers to start at the hardest lessons possible, then to push me from there. I think he hoped I’d either become unstoppable, or give up the Huntress dream. Either way was a win for him.”  
“That’s awful,” said Moria. “So you didn’t improve much then?”  
“Oh, I’m definitely a lot better than I was,” said Lyndal. “But I think I’d be a lot better if I’d started a lot smaller and worked up from there.” Lyndal turned to face her friend. “But enough about me. What about you? Why are you becoming a Huntress?”  
“I’d…rather not talk about it,” said Moria.

“Moria, I know something bad happened to you,” said Lyndal. “Pyrrha already told us what happened to your parents. Surely there can’t be anything more shocking than that.”  
“There isn’t,” said Moria. There was a pause, before Moria sighed. “Look, I’ll tell you why I’m becoming a Huntress, but I don’t want you to mention it to anyone. At least, not until I know more.”  
“Oh? What is it?” asked Lyndal.  
“Well, what Pyrrha told you might only have been partly true,” said Moria. “They never found either of my parent’s bodies…”  
“Moria…” started Lyndal, trying to think how to break her friend out of her denial of her parent’s fate.  
“No, listen, there’s more,” said Moria. “It was my first birthday after the attack. I was at the temple, when one of the monks handed me a present, but didn’t say who it was from. He said he didn’t know. I unwrapped it, and found what remained of a teddy bear I had as a kid. Attached was a note that just said ‘Soon, I’ll return for you’. It wasn’t signed, but I’m sure it was in my father’s handwriting. I think he’s alive.”  
“But then where is he?” asked Lyndal. “I mean, he’s missed a decade of your life. What could he have been doing?”  
“My mother,” said Moria. “She disappeared just after the raiders appeared and attacked my village. I think…I think he’s chasing them, trying to catch up and kill them so he can rescue my mother.”  
“Hmm…” was all Lyndal could say.  
“You don’t believe me?” said Moria.  
“I think it’s a stretch,” admitted Lyndal. “But if you truly believe it, I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt.”  
“Well, it’s all I’ve got,” said Moria. “Besides, I…” A loud thump that caused the cavern to shake interrupted her. “What the hell was that?” Another thump sounded, as well as a low growl.

“More Grimm,” said Lyndal, grabbing her harpoon. “But this one sounds like it’s huge. What huge Grimm can you think of that live underground?”  
“That growl makes me think it might be a Burrower,” said Moria, as loud footsteps began to make their way towards them. Soon, the two girls saw a large mole like creature crawl into the tunnel. “Yep, Burrower.” The creature roared, and began crawling towards them. The two girls held their ground, and prepared to attack.  
Moria ducked under one of the Grimm’s paws, aimed an arrow, and fired. She scored a direct hit in the monster’s eye. The Burrower roared and smacked Moria into a wall. The creature held her there, and proceeded to squeeze her, causing her to gasp in pain. A loud crack sounded through the tunnel, and Moria coughed up some blood.  
“HEY!” yelled Lyndal, drawing the creature’s attention. “Leave her alone.” The monster swung its paw at Lyndal, only for her to hold her harpoon out. The Grimm stabbed itself on the point, and roared in pain. It continued to try and swat her, only to continually prick itself on Lyndal’s weapon. The monster growled in frustration, and threw Moria at the far wall. Moria fell to the ground, not moving.  
Lyndal glared at the large Grimm. “You really shouldn’t have done that,” she said, charging at the Burrower. She jumped onto its head, and began repeatedly stabbing it. The monster howled in pain, and managed to knock her off, only for her to start stabbing its leg. The monster kept swatting her away, but she continued her fierce assault. Soon, the Grimm realised the only way to stop her was to disarm her, and did what it did to Moria: crushed her against a wall. In the shock of being hit, Lyndal dropped her weapon.  
“I will not lose to you,” snarled Lyndal. “You hurt my friend, you die.” The Burrower didn’t seem to take much notice, until it felt a low rumble coming from below its feet…

“I think we’re nearly there,” said Balaraj. “I can feel an empty tunnel-like area about fifteen feet below. Maybe they’re in there.”  
“I certainly hope so,” said Tehuti. “Because otherwise…what is that?”  
“What’s what?” asked Nootau, just as the rumble became more apparent. “Oh, that.”  
“I don’t know how, I don’t know in what way, but I get the feeling one of the girls is behind that,” said Randolph, just as a large burst of water burst from the ground.  
“Yep, that would be Lyndal,” said Tehuti. “Must have been an underground river or something.”  
“Hold on, I’ll check,” said Balaraj, focusing himself. After about twenty seconds, he opened his eyes again. “Yep, about forty-five feet down.”  
‘Wait, forty five feet?’ thought Tehuti. ‘Lyndal summoned that through thirty feet of solid rock?!’  
“What just happened?” asked Goodwitch, appearing in the clearing with Montgomery. “I saw the water explosion, and…”  
“The girls are down there,” said Tehuti. “We need to bring them back up.” Tehuti began climbing into the hole, followed by Nootau and Randolph. The three boys reached the newly opened tunnel, only to see an unconscious Grace, Moria in a crumpled heap, and Lyndal sobbing over her friend’s heavily injured form.  
“Lyndal,” called Nootau, running over to her. “What happened? Are you guys okay?”  
“Help them,” said Lyndal, not looking up, not even seeming to have heard Nootau’s question. “Forget about me, help Moria. Help Grace.”  
“Steady there,” said Tehuti, picking up Moria. In his arms, she might as well have been a child. “Can you walk?”  
Lyndal slowly got to her feet, but had to put one hand in Tehuti’s shoulder to support herself. Meanwhile, Nootau and Randolph picked up Grace between them. “Okay, we’re outta here,” said Nootau. “Weiss here yet?”  
“Just arrived,” called someone from above their heads. “One moment.” A glyph appeared on the floor in front of them, followed by a bunch more leading up to the surface.  
“Don’t worry, the other two will be okay,” said Tehuti, helping Lyndal back to the surface.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this got darker than I planned to make it. Might make the next chapter a bit more light-hearted.  
> Novel progress: a prologue and two chapters down, eleven chapters and an epilogue to go.


	14. Balaraj and Randolph Go To Whamburger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Balaraj and Randolph look for a burger store. That's pretty much it. Oh, and Torchwick gets a cameo.

“Guys, seriously, I’m fine,” said Grace. “Goodwitch just said I need a week or so of bedrest, then I’ll be fine.”  
“Still, you should try and enjoy your week off,” said Balaraj.  
“Just keep me up to date with what we’re doing in school and I’ll be fine,” said Grace.  
“Hey, we need to have a party now that you’re getting better,” said Randolph, ignoring her.  
“It won’t be much of a party, since the main focus of the party is still in bed,” said Montgomery.  
“We’ll pick some stuff up from Whamburger,” said Balaraj, also ignoring one of his team mates.  
“There’s a Whamburger in Vale?” asked Randolph.  
“Yeah, I think I remember where it is,” said Balaraj. “Come on, I’ll lead the way.”  
“Guys, I’m a vegetar…” started Grace, but they’d already left. “…ian.” Grace sighed in exasperation.  
“That was Balaraj saying he’d lead the way, right?” asked Montgomery.  
“Uh…yeah,” said Grace, uncertain. “Why? What’s…?”  
“I wouldn’t worry about them getting you anything,” said Montgomery. “Balaraj’s sense of direction is non-existent.”  
“How non-existent?” asked Grace.  
“Well…” started Montgomery. “You ever hear of an actor named Bruce Willis?”  
“No,” said Grace. “I know of Spruce Willis, but…”  
“Exactly. No-one called that exists, but they’re still more existent than his sense of directory,” said Montgomery. Grace sighed in relief. “Wait there. I’ll get you something from the cafeteria.”

“I’m sure it was around here somewhere,” said Balaraj. “I know it was in a place with a lot of buildings.”  
“Balaraj, we’re in the city,” said Randolph. “There are buildings literally everywhere for several miles.”  
“See? I’ve already narrowed it down to within a few square miles of here,” said Balaraj.  
“Also, we’re in the industrial district,” said Randolph. “They’re not gonna have it here.”  
“Are you implying that factory workers don’t like high quality fast food burgers?” asked Balaraj. “Because that’s a very unfair generalisation.”  
“What? I didn’t even imply that,” said Randolph. “I was just pointing out that it doesn’t make sense to set up a shop in a place like this. It’s wouldn’t be financially viable.”  
“Or maybe they would, just to get a monopoly on the market,” suggested Balaraj.  
Randolph sighed. “Look, I’m not a genius by any means, but even I can see how stupid that argument is,” he said. “Look, do you remember anything else about where this place was?”  
“Um, duh,” said Balaraj as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. “It’s…this way.”  
“Balaraj, that’s a warehouse,” Randolph pointed out. “Why would they have a store in there?”  
“Because who’d expect it?” asked Balaraj, entering the warehouse.  
“So they’ve gone from making the genius move of setting up where no-one else would, to setting up where no-one would find them?” asked Randolph, following him in. “What kind of tactics are they…Whoa.” Inside the warehouse was hundreds and hundreds of boxes, stacked on large metal shelving units reaching almost to the roof. “That’s a lot of boxes.”  
“I wonder what they have in them,” said Balaraj, grabbing one of them off the shelf. He then tried to open it with his weapon in its pickaxe form.  
“Balaraj, NO!” cried Randolph, but he was too late. Balaraj cracked the top off the crate and revealed its contents. “Wow…”  
“That’s a lot of Dust,” said Balaraj. “I wonder if they all have Dust in them.”  
“Hey, weren’t there news reports recently about a whole lot of Dust robberies?” asked Randolph.  
“I think so,” said Balaraj. “Who was behind it again? Greek Lanterntip?”  
“How about Roman Torchwick?” said someone behind them. The two boys turned to see an orange-haired man with a white coat and hat coming down the aisle.

“Hmm…nah, name doesn’t ring a bell,” said Balaraj.  
Torchwick seemed taken back. “Wh…what? Really?” he said. “You butcher my name, then don’t recognise me?”  
“Should I?” asked Balaraj.  
Torchwick sighed. “Look, what are you doing here?” he demanded.  
“We’re looking for the new Whamburger opening up around here,” said Balaraj.  
“There’s a Whamburger opening around here?” asked Torchwick.  
“Probably not, but he might imagine it hard enough that it will happen,” said Randolph.  
“Shut up, maybe he knows where it is,” said Balaraj.  
“Actually, there is one around here,” said Torchwick.  
“What? Really?” asked Randolph.  
“Or, at least, there’s going to be,” said Torchwick, pointing out a window at a nearby construction site. One of the signs on the fence said ‘Whamburger: Coming Soon.’  
“Oh, yeah, that’s what it was,” said Balaraj, slapping his head. “Boy, do I feel stupid.”  
“You only feel stupid?” asked Torchwick.  
“So, you dragged me out here, for a restaurant that doesn’t even exist yet?” demanded Randolph.  
“You gotta admit, it was a fun little adventure we had,” said Balaraj.  
“We could get arrested for trespassing,” said Randolph.  
“Oh, don’t worry about that,” said Torchwick. “I’d rather not bring the cops into this.”  
“See, all’s well in the end,” said Balaraj. “Right, Randy? Eh?” Balaraj looked at Randolph, but only saw anger and frustration in his face, before Randolph ran at him. Balaraj, realising he was in danger, began running away.  
“Jeez, kids are weird these days,” said Torchwick, as someone approached him. “What is it, Perry?”  
“Sir, were those Huntsman?” asked Perry.  
“I’m not sure,” said Torchwick. “But to be safe, let’s get this stuff moved to a new base. Cinder won’t like it, but frankly as long as I get paid and our cover isn’t blown, I don’t care.”

“…and that’s why I have two black eyes, three broken ribs, and a fractured elbow,” said Balaraj.  
Montgomery sighed. “Was it worth it?” he asked Randolph.  
“Well, I feel better from doing it,” replied Randolph. “So, now that we know there’s no new Whamburger to try out, who’s for pizza?”  
“Still a vegetarian,” said Grace, but Randolph had already made a call.  
“Yes, can I get four large meat lovers pizzas?” he asked. Grace and Montgomery sighed in exasperation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See? A nice, short, happy filler chapter after that scary one. Now, I’ve gotta get started on the next chapter of my novel, and get to work on the two part finale for this fanfic, then I can (probably) get back to Harry Potter Abridged. Until next time.


	15. Monkeying Around

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sun arrives in Vale, and Lyndal confesses...something. Look, just read the thing, okay? I don't really care about writing these summaries, I only do them to write humorous stuff and see who actually reads it.

“Ah, smell that sea breeze,” said Lyndal, walking the streets out Vale with her team. “Man, it feels good to be out of bed again.”  
“It is good to be up and about,” said Moria. “It’s too bad that Dust shop was robbed. I was thinking of using some to upgrade my weapon”  
“Randolph and Balaraj really should have got some from that Dust hoarder they found,” said Nootau.  
“Nah, he was probably just a Dust supplier for the local businesses,” said Tehuti. “Though admittedly, that Lanterntip guy is pretty brave to have such lax security in a time like this.”  
“Yeah, it seems a bit odd,” said Moria. “Hey, aren’t some of the students from other schools supposed to be arriving today?”  
“Was it today?” asked Lyndal. “I thought it was…” Before she could finish that sentence, someone jumped down from the roof and accidentally landed on her.  
The guy who fell from the sky was a faunus with a monkey tail, wearing a white shirt that was open down the front, and blue pants. “Whoops sorry about that,” he said, helping Lyndal up. “I didn’t see you…” The faunus’s eyes fell on Tehuti, then widened in recognition. “Tehuti? Is that you?”  
“Sun,” said Tehuti, clearly recognising the boy. “You’re not running from the cops, are you?”  
“Nice to see you too,” said Sun. “Honestly, first time we see each other in years, and the first thing you say is…”  
“STOP THAT MONKEY KID!” yelled someone, as two cops came running around the corner.  
“Ooh, gotta go,” said Sun. “See you at Beacon?” Before Tehuti could say anything, Sun ran to the nearest alleyway and climbed onto the roof of a building.  
“Friend of yours?” asked Moria.  
“We knew each other back in Vacuo,” said Tehuti. “I’m not sure about friends, but there’s definitely no antagonism between us.”  
“Hey Lyndal, did you have a nice trip?” joked Nootau.  
“Not funny,” said Lyndal, walking away.  
“Aww, what’s wrong with that?” asked Nootau.  
“It’s not a trip if you’re hit by a falling rapscallion,” said Moria.  
“He’s not really a…actually, he is kind of a rapscallion,” said Tehuti.  
“Come on, it’s funny,” said Nootau.  
“Not really,” said Tehuti. “Well, I’m going back to Beacon. See if I can find out what Sun’s up to.”

“God, why is he such an ass?” asked Lyndal, punching one of the training dummies.  
“I’m not sure destroying the training room every time you get annoyed at him is going to help,” said Moria.  
“I know, but damn does it feel good,” said Lyndal.  
“Goodwitch is going to kill you,” said Grace, guiding her friend off the training floor. “Why not just sit down, take a deep breath, and tell us what’s wrong.” Lyndal reluctantly let her friend lead her to a bench and sat down. “Come on, what is it? You can tell us, we’re your friends.”  
“I...” started Lyndal, who started laughing. “I can’t talk about it. It’s not really that important.”  
“Come on, just tell us,” said Moria. “I mean, you two bicker like an old married couple, and…” Moria was about to continue, but she saw Lyndal flinch at the words ‘old married couple’. “Wait…you do not.” Lyndal nodded meekly. “You’ve got a crush on Nootau?!”  
“I knew it,” said Grace. “I can always tell when it comes to love. I even knew you two cared about each other when we met.”  
“What, like as friends?” asked Lyndal. “We’d only known each other a day at the time.”  
“But it has led to a great friendship between us,” said Moria. “That must be what it was.”  
“If you say so,” said Grace.  
“So, what are we gonna do about this?” asked Moria.  
“You’re going to do nothing,” said Lyndal. “I’ll just wait for it to pass, and we’ll move on and forget this ever happened.”  
Grace and Moria looked at each other conspiratorially. “No deal,” said Grace, grabbing Lyndal and dragging her out of the training room.

“Hey, Tehuti, buddy,” said Sun, jumping down from a tree. “So, who’s your buddy here?”  
“This is Nootau, one of my teammates,” said Tehuti.  
“Do you normally climb trees for no reason?” asked Nootau.  
“Do you know how many times climbing a tree has gotten me out of a tough situation?” asked Sun.  
“More times than you should have been in a tough situation, I’ll bet,” said Tehuti.  
“That’s…not untrue,” said Sun. “So, what have been up to buddy?”  
“Honestly, I’ve just been training to be a Huntsman,” said Tehuti.  
“Pfft, you had that covered since you were ten, man,” said Sun. “Come on, tell me something I don’t know.”  
“It wasn’t that impressive,” said Tehuti.  
“DUDE! You killed a freaking Deathstalker,” said Sun. “By yourself. At the age of ten.”  
“I beat it with a club ‘til it started smoking,” said Tehuti.  
“Name one other ten year old who could do that,” said Sun. “Parents back home are still trying to stop their kids from imitating you.”  
“I feel like I’m missing something here,” said Nootau. “Did you say Tehuti has been killing Grimm since he was ten?”  
“You think that’s impressive? When he was fifteen, he killed an Ursa with his bare hands,” said Sun.  
“It was only a little one, and it was standing between me and my weapon,” said Tehuti.  
“I’m starting to think I won’t be representing us in the tournament,” said Nootau.  
“And yet, despite all that, I’ve never seen him with a girl,” said Sun. “Until today, that is. So Tehuti, you with the blonde one or the short one?”  
“Neither,” said Tehuti, in a tone that clearly meant ‘don’t argue’. “Just because you’ve probably already picked a girl you want to hook up with here…”  
“I may have my eye on a cat faunus,” said Sun.  
Tehuti and Nootau looked at each other. “Cat faunus?” asked Nootau. “Not sure I’ve seen one of those here.”  
“Really?” asked Sun. “I mean, she hides it under a bow, but it should still be pretty obvious.”  
“Hmm…nope, still not ringing any bells,” said Tehuti. “I mean, Blake from Team RWBY wears a bow, but I’m sure she’s not a…”  
“So her name’s Blake, is it?” asked Sun. “Team RWBY you say? That’s all I needed to know.”  
“Right…” said Tehuti, just as his phone started ringing. “Hold on, let me take this.” Tehuti grabbed his phone out of his pocket and began speaking into it as he moved away from the other two.  
“So, what actually brings you to Beacon?” asked Nootau.  
“Vytal Festival, of course,” said Sun. “I’m gonna be competing in the tournament with my team.”  
“Really?” asked Nootau. “Where’s your team then?”  
“They’ll be here soon,” said Sun. “One of them is afraid of water, so I hitched a ride early. You know, scope out the competition.”  
“Why do I get the feeling ‘hitch a ride’ actually means ‘stowaway’?” asked Nootau.  
“Because that’s what it was,” admitted Sun, as Tehuti came back.  
“That was Moria,” said Tehuti. “She had something very interesting to say.”  
“Really? What about?” asked Nootau.  
Tehuti leaned in next to Sun and whispered something in his ear. “Oh, really?” said Sun, conspiratorially.  
“What? What is it?” asked Nootau, as the other two grabbed him. “Hey, lemme go. What are you doing?”  
“Oh, you’ll see,” said Sun, laughing maniacally. “Nah, actually, it’s not that evil. But you will see soon enough.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And by ‘soon enough’, I mean in like…I don’t know, two weeks? However long it takes me to write the next chapter of my novel, then the final chapter of this. Though you probably know exactly what’s going to happen anyway. Whatever. One more chapter of this, and it’s finally back to Harry Potter Abridged…probably.


	16. This Was Never Gonna End Well

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter for this fic. Lyndal and Nootau are forced onto a date with each other. It goes exactly as well as the title suggests.

“Are we sure this is a good idea?” asked Grace.  
“I don’t care, it’ll be hilarious,” said Balaraj.  
“Are you sure you can’t stick around to watch this Sun?” asked Tehuti.  
“Sorry, but I’ve got some tail to chase,” said Sun. “And not my own for once.”  
“Ugh, that pun is worse than Yang’s,” said Randolph’s. “Also, gross…I think.”  
“Anyway, I’m gonna be off. I’ll see you guys around,” said Sun, departing.  
“I’ve got Lyndal in place,” said Moria, “Is Nootau ready to go?”  
“He is,” said Montgomery. “But let me just say that I think this is a terrible idea that will have horrible consequences.”  
“Noted,” said Balaraj. “Send him in.”

“So, what am I supposed to be doing here?” asked Lyndal, sitting at a candlelit table dressed in an expensive Legani dress. “Is something supposed to happen, or…?”  
“LET ME GO!” yelled someone. Lyndal turned to see Nootau pushed through a door. Much to her surprise, he was wearing a suit, not something he would normally wear, or even come close to wearing. He looked around and spotted Lyndal. “Oh, hey Lynd…wow.” He stopped mid-sentence to make sure he wasn’t imagining how amazing she looked.  
“Oh, uh, hi…” said Lyndal, unsure what to say.  
“Did…err, did you set this up?” asked Nootau.  
“Oh, no. Nonono. No. This was Moria and Grace’s idea,” said Lyndal.  
“Right…” said Nootau. “So, any idea what this is about?”  
“Uhh…not really,” lied Lyndal. “Probably just some weird prank they’re pulling.”  
“Really?” said Nootau. “Because I never took Moria or Grace to be the prank pulling type. Plus, they got Tehuti and the other guys to help out with this.”  
“Hey, wonder if they’re gonna feed us on this da…err, dinner,” said Lyndal, changing the subject.  
Nootau gave her a suspicious look for a moment, but then shrugged and ignored it, taking the seat opposite her. “So, what’s going on?” asked Nootau  
“Huh?” asked Lyndal. “You know what’s been going on. You’re on my team, you know what’s been going on with me, and…”  
“No, I mean right now,” said Nootau. “Moria and Grace don’t just go out of their way to set up fake dates as a prank, and they wouldn’t get Tehuti involved too.”  
“Wow, you’re not as stupid as I thought you were,” said Lyndal.  
“Gee, thanks,” muttered Nootau. “But seriously, you told them something. What was it?”  
“What? Why would you think that?” asked Lyndal.  
“Because you’re blushing, you were with the girls when Tehuti got the call about whatever this is, and you’ve been trying to avoid the topic this whole time,” said Nootau. “It’s almost like…” Suddenly, the penny dropped. “Oh my God, you have a crush on me.”  
“Why would you…” started Lyndal, but Nootau put his finger to her lips.  
“Stop. I’m not smart, but I’m not ignorant either,” said Nootau. “Now, how are we gonna do this?”  
“You’re assuming I’m going to just agree to go out with you, aren’t you?” said Lyndal. “Because let me tell you, that’s not gonna…”  
“No, I mean getting back at them,” said Nootau. “Why would I go out with you?”  
“Oh, right,” said Lyndal. “Hey, wait…”  
“Now, here’s what I think we should do…” said Nootau, and started explaining his plan.

“Was it really a good idea to leave those two alone?” asked Montgomery, as Team GMBR and the remainder of Team LMNT headed back to their dorms.  
“Oh, come on, what’s the worst they could have done in an hour?” asked Balaraj, opening the door to their room. He went over to his bed, and noticed something odd. “Hey, when did my pillow become so pink and frilly?”  
“That’s my pillow,” said Grace. “Why have you got my pillow?”  
“And why have you got Immortal Shine?” asked Montgomery, grabbing his weapon from beside Balaraj’s bed.  
“And my personal magazines?” asked Randolph.  
“Gross,” said Grace.  
“I read them for the articles,” responded Randolph quickly. “They give excellent tips on…uh…”  
“Just stop, we already know what you use them for,” said Montgomery. “Plus, we’re focusing on Balaraj right now.”  
“Yeah? Well, I can ask you why you have my mining books,” said Balaraj, pointing out a pile of books next to Montgomery’s bed. “And my…”  
“Stop. I already know what happened,” said Montgomery. “And I’d just like to say, I told you so.”  
“Why? What happened?” asked Randolph.  
“Lyndal and Nootau didn’t appreciate us trying to pair them off, so they got revenge on us,” said Montgomery.  
“But why us?” asked Balaraj. “Why not Tehuti and Moria?”  
“Shh…” said Montgomery, and Team GMBR fell quiet. A few seconds later, they heard talking from across the hall.  
“Not sure what you were planning on doing with Seismic Shot, but I’d like it back now,” they heard Tehuti saying.  
“Why do I get the feeling this was Lyndal and Nootau’s doing?” asked Moria.  
“Yeah, probably was,” said Tehuti. “Well, now we know not to force it, just let them work it out for themselves.”  
“Yeah, I don’t know if they either can or will,” said Moria.  
“We’ll see,” said Tehuti. “Well, better get this place back to normal.”

“Well, that was fun,” said Nootau.  
“I guess,” said Lyndal. “But I still wish I didn’t have to touch Balaraj’s magazines. Who knows what he uses them for.”  
“I think we both know what he uses them for,” said Nootau.  
“I really didn’t want to think about that,” said Lyndal.  
“But seriously, we should talk about…this,” said Nootau. Lyndal flinched. “Look, I know it’s awkward, but…”  
“I know,” said Lyndal. “It’s just, I’ve never really liked anyone, and…”  
“It’s okay,” said Nootau, putting his arms around her. “We can just…”  
Lyndal pushed his arms off of her. “Pfft, I’m not that easy,” she said, turning to leave. “I’m still gonna make you work for this. But maybe one day…” Lyndal disappeared around a corner before she could finish her sentence.  
Nootau sighed. “I sure hope so,” he said, following her down the hall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And on that note, Volume 1 is done. Volume 2 is coming…I have no idea when. No-one’s voted for it on the poll on my fanfiction.net profile, and I’ve got the next five years booked out. So…it could be a while before I do Volumes 2 – 4. So, since Harry Potter Abridged is tied for the lead on the poll, and it’s my most successful series other than maybe Total Drama, that’ll be next unless something happens. But I do want it to be HPA, because I love writing it and have so much I want to do with it. Well, until next time guys…


End file.
